Chip Away the Stone
by DominoTyler
Summary: "Sirius is beyond sexy. And he'll make sure you have a kid on time.""Ginny!""Seriously, though. He'll keep you safe, from death eaters, from the ministry.""That's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried about being safe from HIM." Marriage law fic! Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer-I don't own Harry Potter or the song "Chip Away the Stone."

So the title is based off of Aerosmith's song by the same name. I thought it was pretty fitting. :)

I am also writing a Hermione/Draco fanfiction that's nearly the same as this one. I just wanted a marriage law fic for both, and I had only one idea for it so I'm trying it both ways. :)

So, here I go.

Oh, this is in Hermione's first POV, but the rest should be 3rd omniscient.

...

It was a pretty strange day to begin with. Just the first strange day to a week filled with the most strange events of my entire life.

The morning started out with Remus Lupin going over our assignment once again. Sirius Black, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Severus Snape, and I were to go to the centre of the biggest rainforest in the world, the Amazon. No muggle had ever been here before, because it was surrounded by magical barriers used to keep them out. At the centre, thousands magical plants flourished, thousands of magical creatures prowled.

And at the very centre, the new leaders of the war, Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, and Mulciber were planning another attack on muggles, and therefore on the Order of the Phoenix.

So, we needed to stop the attack.

The only problem so far, though, was getting there. There were animals that jumped in my face and screamed at me, and plants that tried to chew off my legs. Ron got attacked by some strange purple plant that I-HERMIONE GRANGER-had never even heard of before. It tried to suck off his fingernails, and then latched itself on his arm and began to suck his blood.

Sirius thought it was all great fun, especially when some weird animal got tangled in Snape's hair, and he tried to pull it out for the next half an hour of our walk.

"That's it, I've decided!" Sirius said when he caught his breath and shot a well aimed spell at something chewing on Harry's shoulder. "As soon as we get out of here, I'm getting another tattoo. Who here can draw, I need a picture of Snape being attacked by that thing. That was bloody hilarious!"

"Sirius, sh!" I exclaimed in a whisper. "Do you hear that?"

I was right. There were voices coming from somewhere just ahead of us.

"Good," he said as we crouched and peered at the bodies in a small wooden hut through the cracks in the poorly built dome. "Everyone remember the plan?"

I nodded with everyone else. It was so simple. All we had to do was set their information and resources on fire and erase their memories of their plans.

Sirius pointed his wand through one of the cracks, and I could soon smell smoke.

There was a terrible scream that came from Bellatrix Lestrange. I had to suppress laughter as I watched her jump around, her skirt on fire. Her husband jumped at her, accidentally ripping her skirt off.

She didn't care. She really didn't have to. I shifted uncomfortably. She had really nice legs.

She kicked the wall down and saw the group of us standing there.

Sirius barked out a laugh. "Nice panty's, there, cousin. Now put some pants on and fight me!"

She grinned. "I thought I'd done away with you? Ah, well. It'll be fun to do it again!"

Before a spell could leave her lips, Neville's wand rose, and his silent spell flew from his wand. Whatever he'd done, it was effective, and Bellatrix crumpled, choking blood onto her bare legs.

"You bastard!" Rodolphus shouted, trying to attack Neville.

With a flourish of my own wand, Rodolphus found his legs tied and his hands stuck to his eyes.

While the others were fighting, it was Ron and my turn. We ran around to the front and fought our way into the little hut. And then we began setting fire to everything in sight.

Several Death Eaters came up behind us. "Cover me, Ron!" I shouted as I continued destroying the huts in the surrounding area.

He shouted a spell I remember him telling Harry he thought was quite funny, but it was deflected by the Death Eater and shot immediately back at Ron.

He crashed into a table and was unconscious within seconds. The Death Eater laughed.

I turned around. I was all by myself, and there were three Death Eaters with me now, one holding a very suspicious jar.

I stood, ready to fight, but I felt so vulnerable. The one with the jar smirked and began to unscrew it. He laughed, a deep, cruel laugh. "Maybe next time you should wait and see what you're up against!"

He threw the contents of the jar on me. I screamed. The liquid burned and the little creatures in it crawled all over my skin.

A different Death Eater slashed his wand at me, and I felt the skin on my neck break. I screamed louder as the little creatures in the liquid crawled inside. It was painful, it was horrifying, and, beyond anything else, it was disgusting.

I continued screaming. I couldn't move, it hurt so much.

"Hermione!"

There was a big flash of light and all of the Death Eaters collapsed. It was Sirius. He came forward and threw me over his shoulder.

"Where's Ron?" He yelled over the noise of the fight.

"He's back there!" I sobbed.

Sirius nodded but didn't stop running. He passed Snape, who seemed quite alarmed by my appearance. Sirius played off of this. "I need to get her out of here! Ron is still in that burning hut; get him out!"

"I will!" Snape yelled, and he took off.

Sirius apparated then. When we resurfaced from the crushing darkness, we were at St. Mungo's.

"We've got an Auror who was attacked by Death Eaters with Amazonian creatures, get out of my way!" Sirius yelled to the people in the waiting room.

I was still on his shoulder, crying as my skin seared and blood poured down my neck. Several people busrt into tears at the sight of me. That didn't make me feel very well about the situation.

A healer appeared with a stretcher and Sirius gently dropped me onto it.

For some reason, I could not bring myself to let go of his hand. "Don't leave, Sirius," I whispered.

He looked rather distressed. His hair was matted to his face from the sweat of the battle. "I won't."

And he didn't. The soon put me under, and when I woke up, he was still there.

"What did they do to me?" I asked, touching my neck. There was a bandage there. My skin felt very soft now, all clean. My hair was sopping wet.

I squinted in the bright lights surrounding me. My head hurt and my neck stung.

"Well, while they were bathing you to get rid of all of that liquid, they pulled all of those little black guys from your bloodstream and made sure your blood was clean," Sirius said. "Then they stitched you up and now we're here."

"Were you here when they-when-" I was finding it hard to talk. I was embarrassed that I hadn't let him leave in the first place. I was just scared. Not thinking straight, not thinking through my pain.

He winked. "I told you I wouldn't leave."

My eyes widened and I pulled my blanket up higher around myself, laying back in the bed.

Sirius laughed. "Don't worry, I didn't look."

I sighed. "And what about the others?"

"We managed to destroy all of their plans and we erased Bella's mind," Sirius said. "Which, I might add, was rather hilarious when she forgot why she was in the middle of a battle in her underwear."

I laughed.

"But everyone else got away," Sirius said. "At least we managed to burn all of their materials."

Hermione nodded, when something came to her. "What about Ron? Is he okay?"

"Er..." Sirius was standing now, arms crossed. He shuffled his feet awkwardly. "Well, you might want to just see yourself."

I looked at him curiously as he walked to the other side of the room and pulled aside the curtain.

At first, I couldn't see who was in the bed. It was surrounded by the entire order.

"They all moved to him when they found out you would be okay," Sirius said.

I, alarmed, threw my blanket and tried to run to Ron's bed. But I was weaker than I felt, and I stumbled a little bit. Sirius helped me, but I shook him off when I made it to Ron's bed, where I could lean against the bed.

He was mumbling to them about something a unicorn had the nerve to tell him.

I leaned over to Mrs. Weasley. "What's wrong with him?"

"Perpetual drunkenness hex," she sobbed quietly. "No one knows the reverse."

My hands flew to my mouth. So he'd be like this forever. Our plans for marriage were over until we could find the reverse. My heart sunk to my toes.

Bellatrix Lestrange, fighting with no pants on. Me, asking Sirius to stay with me while I was operated on. Ronald Weasley, forever drunk.

This was only the beginning to my strange, strange week.

...

I don't really like the writing in this chapter. I don't know, it's not very good. But I have the next three chapters written, and I think they're a lot better.

So, if I get at least one alert (favourites, story alert, review) I'll post the next one right after!

See you guys later!

:)


	2. Chapter 2

Well, GK94 put this on their story alerts, so here it is! The next chapter!

I'll post the next one when I feel it's ready. I don't want to post everything I've got right away, I want to spread it out, but I wanted to get this thing started nicely.

So, yeah. Here's the next one.

...

"AHHHHHH!"

Harry sat up in bed as fast as if he'd suddenly been lit on fire, and threw aside his comforter. He fled his bedroom and ran down the hallways of 12 Grimmauld Place like a mad man as he raced towards the horrid screaming coming from the kitchen.

Hermione was standing in the centre of the kitchen, her hand out like she was holding her coffee mug, but said mug was in five pieces and several small shards on the floor. Hot coffee had oozed across the floor and was covering Hermione's bare feet, but she didn't even notice. Her hand was clutching at the morning's Daily Prophet, a horrified expression on her face. Her mouth was poised to scream again as she continued reading and her eyes became more and more distressed.

Harry decided he should first remove her from any sort of danger, and he pushed her out of the coffee, pointing his wand at her feet to cool them and clean them with a douse of water. She didn't even notice. She continued to read as she lay on her back on the table. She screamed again, and a few thundering footsteps came down the hallway. Everyone had still been asleep, as Hermione was the first person to awake every morning, even though she was the last to go to sleep every night.

Ron came out completely wrapped in his comforter, still obviously half asleep. His drunkenness had caused him to pass out at supper the night before. Ginny came out in nothing but a tank top and underwear. When she realised this, she grabbed a corner of Ron's comforter and covered herself. Next came Remus, who tripped and nearly slipped in the coffee and glass shards.

Mrs. Weasley came running then with a cast iron frying pan raised like a baseball bat, ready to kill whoever broke in, or at least fix them breakfast while they were interrogated. Finally came Sirius. He swaggered in wearing nothing but his boxers and several necklaces.

Hermione screamed again, and then burst into gasping sobs.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" Mrs. Weasley asked finally, stepping around the coffee and glass that Kreacher was attempting to clean amongst all of the bodies crowding around Hermione.

Hermione, who was now covering her eyes with her arm, thrust the day's paper at Mrs. Weasley, who took it confusedly, and read the article with the least crinkles on it and the most around it, where Hermione had been tightly gripping.

As she read, her hand flew to her mouth and she dropped her pan. The loud clanging sound snapped Hermione out of what was going on in the horrible world she lived in and she sat up. She glanced at the coffee and her feet that she felt were burning horribly, and then at Harry. She offered the smallest of smiles. "Thank you, Harry," she said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She took a deep breath and shook her head, then looked away from everyone, wiping tears from her eyes.

"You're welcome, but what the hell, Hermione?" Harry demanded. "What was that all about?"

She sighed as Mrs. Weasley made a choking sound and handed the paper to Remus, before picking up the pan and taking it to the stove to begin the only way she coped with anything-cooking. Last night she'd made them a five course meal because of Ron.

Remus was an even faster reader than Hermione. "A marriage act?" he said angrily. "The last time they proposed a marriage act was twenty years ago, and that was shot down in two days!"

"This one was passed unanimously in two days," Hermione groaned.

Remus shook his head and stepped forward to wrap an arm around Hermione as he continued reading the paper, trying to keep his arm away from her bandages. "We'll keep you safe, Hermione."

"Will someone bloody tell us what's going on?" Sirius demanded. "I didn't wake up for nothing! I'm going to a party tonight and-"

"You'll have to cancel," Remus interrupted. "Because we have a bit of a crisis. Everybody go and get dressed, and be down here by ten for breakfast, and I'll explain."

...

No one felt like eating Molly's cooking at the moment. They were too anxious for what Remus had to say. The only people able to eat, besides Remus, who wasn't as anxious, were Sirius and Ron, who could never turn down food. Ron soon complained of his headache, though, and climbed up to his bed. Several more people had showed up, including Tonks, Arthur, the twins, Bill and Fleur, Snape, who had a big burn on his arm, and Neville Longbottom, who had several marks on his face, where a strange, octopus-like creature had latched on and spent several hours.

Hermione sighed, thinking about the new law as she pushed her breakfast around on her plate. After the Battle of Hogwarts, only four weeks ago it was, the Death Eaters continued to push the war on, full force. Their only care was that Purebloods would reign over all other bloodlines. The only difference was now the Death Eaters were free of fear, as their leader was dead. Unless, of course, you count how terrified they were of their new leaders, the Lestranges, Lucius Malfoy, and Mulciber. Hermione knew they would only do something awful like this.

"Remus, will you cut to the chase?" Sirius said as he stabbed a mix of everything onto his fork and spooned it into his mouth. "I want to put my pants on but I need to wait until you finish this."

Remus rolled his eyes. "You could have put your pants on when I gave you the two hours to get dressed."

"Yeah, but I'd like to know what pair to wear today, and the only way I'll know is if this is a good day or a bad day or a REALLY bad day."

Remus sighed. "Go put your pants on, Sirius."

Sirius grumbled as he stood up and left to get a pair of pants.

"Alright," Remus said. "Let's start. He should be back in a couple of minutes. As you heard me say, there's been a marriage law enacted. It states that every female muggle born seventeen to forty must marry a Pureblood wizard or they will be sentenced to Azkaban until the ministry can properly pair them with a Pureblooded wizard."

"They can't do that!" Harry exclaimed.

"They can and they have," Remus said softly.

"So what are we going to do?" Harry asked. "About Hermione?" He looked at his best friend. "I'm so sorry, Hermione...you know I'd marry you..."

"But you've got me!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Actually, I was going to say I'm half-blood...but yeah! I-Er-could never leave Ginny."

He chuckled nervously.

Hermione offered him a cheerless smile. "Thanks anyways, Harry."

"We'll keep you safe, Hermione," Remus said. "We're going to find someone to marry you within the order. Not trying to sound insensitive or anything, but we can't let them get any information from you. You know every last bit of information about the Order."

"I understand," Hermione said.

"You know I'd marry you, Hermione," Neville said, a bit glumly.

Hermione smiled at him as well. "I know you would, but I don't expect you to leave Luna for me. I don't expect anyone to have to do anything or give up anything for me."

"I'm sure there's someone," Remus said, looking around. The twins shuffled around awkwardly. They had drunkenly married a set of French twins a few weeks back. The Fench twins were great people, but that left them unavailable to marry Hermione. They would have asked Charlie, but he was on a mission in Bulgaria. Snape was half-blood...

That left...

"What did I miss?" he said, walking into the kitchen in a pair of black jeans and a long sleeved black shirt with a vest.

"You're engagement to Hermione Granger," Remus replied, standing.

He choked, as did Hermione.

At the same time, they both slammed there hands on the table, Hermione shooting to her feet. "WHAT?"

...

"I'm sorry," Remus said as soon as the two had been calmed down and placed back in their seats. "I shouldn't have sprung that on you so quickly. I sometimes just speak my discoveries, and I had found that the only person free to marry Hermione is you, Sirius."

Sirius stammered a bit before exclaiming, "Well, what about Ron?"

"You mean my son Ron?" Mrs. Weasley deadpanned. "The son who placed a Perpetual Drunkenness Hex on himself, which we are currently searching for the spell to reverse?"

"That's the one!" Sirius exclaimed, pointing at Molly. "Why not him?"

"Because he's perpetually drunk, Sirius, are you daft?" Molly cried.

Sirius scratched the back of his head. He placed his hand on his hip as he thought, then he growled and clenched a fistful of his hair in his hands. He turned and made to leave.

"Oh, no, Sirius," Remus said. "You're not walking away from this. We need to discuss this."

Molly heard the cue in his words. "Er...Ginny, dear, will you please accompany me to the grocery store? We're running low on several things..."

Ginny and Neville caught on. "I'll carry the groceries for you, ma'am," Neville said, sliding from the countertop and following her out the door.

"We're not allowed to miss another day of work, or the shop will go under," Fred said.

"Bye, everyone," said George, and they left the room quickly as possible.

Tonks kissed Remus on the cheek. "Good luck, sweetheart."

Snape didn't even make up an excuse-he just left the room. Bill and Fleur slowly left, followed by Arthur.

"Can't I stay?" Harry asked.

Hermione smiled. "Of course you can, Harry."

Harry pulled up a chair at the table. Sirius reluctantly sat in front of Hermione.

"Sirius, I know this is going to be hard for you," Remus began. "Especially difficult when I tell you the second part of this law."

"What's the second part?" He asked nervously.

Remus laughed. "I haven't even warmed you up to this first part yet! Baby steps, Sirius."

Sirius groaned.

"Come on, Sirius," Harry implored him. "Hermione's my best friend. We can't get her sent to Azkaban, or married to someone we don't know."

Sirius couldn't look at his godson. "I know."

Hermione spoke up. "I don't want to be any trouble. I'll just go into hiding-!"

"Is that what you want?"

Hermione looked at Sirius, surprised. "If I-"

"Hermione Granger, is that what you want?" He demanded.

She stammered for a moment, before looking down into her lap. She shook her head.

"I didn't think so," he snapped. Then he made a growling sound in the back of his throat. "Now what's the second part?"

"Hermione will be killed if she can't produce a child within 6 months of marriage."

Everyone sitting at the table's jaws dropped.

"They can't-"

"They can, Harry," Remus said calmly, but firmly, "and they have. Now, I know the situation seems bleak-"

"You're damn right it does!" Sirius exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "Look at me, Remus! Do I look ready to be a father? I party every night and pretend I'm Steven Tyler when I'm bored!"

"I understand, Sirius," Remus said, attempting to reason with him.

"Not to mention I'm 17 years older than her!"

Remus rolled his eyes. Sirius believed that he had aged backwards during his time in the veil. Of course, there was no way of telling him he hadn't, so no one ever contradicted him. For all they knew, Sirius was now a 34 year old man.

"Sirius-"

"Remus, I need to talk to you alone," Sirius said.

Remus nodded and leaned over to whisper in Harry's ear, "Convince Hermione this is right, but don't force her."

Harry nodded and stood. "Come on, Hermione, let's go to my room. I never showed you my new broom!"

Hermione looked pretty confused, but she followed after Harry. Of course, he had her wrist in his fist, so she had no choice.

"Remus, you know me," Sirius said once they had left, dropping into his chair. "I don't know if I'll be able to control myself. I might hurt her-in every way a person can. I might blow off the handle and leave her. And more importantly-I don't think I'll be able to have a kid. You know...I don't know if I'll be responsible enough."

"I know, Sirius," Remus said softly. "But you've got half a year to prepare yourself. Unfortunately, if Hermione's not married within the next two weeks, she'll be taken to Azkaban."

Sirius shivered. He knew what that was like. He wondered how Hermione would be able to take that.

He sighed. "And I'm the only option?"

"If we want to marry her within the order, then yes, you're her only option besides hiding her."

Sirius nodded. "I'll marry her, then."

Remus grinned. "You'll make a good husband, mate."

Sirius winced. "Remus, please. It's too soon to be using such language."

...

Meanwhile

...

"Yes, Harry, it's a very nice broom."

"Sirius bought it for me."

"I know."

"Sirius really does care about you."

Hermione paused in running her fingers along the sleek body of the broom. She sighed. "Harry, he's 21 years older than me."

"17," Harry corrected.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "See, that's even worse. He's convinced himself that he's younger than he actually is. But really, when I was born, he was graduating from Hogwarts."

"So what?"

Hermione sighed. "You're right, that's not a good enough excuse."

"There isn't one, Hermione," Harry exclaimed.

"Oi! Shut up over there, cancha see I'm sleepin here...?"

"Go to sleep, Ronald," Hermione called.

"Not so loud..."

The forever drunk boy collapsed into snores again.

"There's one," Hermione said, motioning to Ron. "How will Ron feel when we break this obnoxious curse and he finds I married someone else?"

"He'll understand," Harry said quietly.

Hermione sighed and was about to protest again, when a knock came at the door.

"Hermione?" Sirius called through the door. "Will you please talk to me?"

Hermione looked at the door, and then desperately back at Harry. Harry gestured towards the door, signalling that he wished Hermione would go talk to his godfather.

Hermione dejectedly opened the door, staring at her feet, not looking at Sirius. He touched her chin lightly and tried to make her look at him. He smiled at her kindly. "I was thinking red and white flowers in gold vases. What do you think?"

Hermione tried to smile. She really did. But forcing her face muscles to do something so unnecessary for the moment caused her tear ducts and her hearts to crack, and she threw herself at Sirius, sobbing hard.

Sirius wasn't quite sure what to do. He stood with his arms out, looking at the sobbing girl latched onto his waist, sobbing into his lower chest. He looked at Harry for help.

Harry grinned and made motions like he was supposed to engulf Hermione with his arms.

So he did. He held Hermione close as she cried herself out.

"So I take it you don't want that?" Sirius asked her.

She shook her head. She pulled away, not looking at Sirius. "No, white and red is fine," she mumbled, trying to push past him. "I'm sorry. It was too much stress for one morning. I think I'm just going to go lie down."

Sirius nodded and allowed her to pass.

As soon as they heard the door shut, Sirius looked at Harry, horrified.

Harry laughed. "Have you never hugged a girl before?"

"Never a crying girl!" Sirius exclaimed. "I normally leave before I have to deal with that."

Harry suddenly became serious. "You can't do that to Hermione, alright, Sirius?"

Sirius nodded. "I know."

"Be gentle with her, and don't-please-don't hurt her."

"This is why I didn't want to do this!" Sirius exclaimed, slamming his fist against the door frame.

Ron threw himself tipsily out of his bed. "That's it!" He slurred. "You wanna fight? Come on! Be a man!"

"Sit down, Ron," Harry sighed, grinning. "Sirius knows he needs to man up and marry Hermione."

"'Ermione? Where is she anyways? 'ERMIONE!"

"Shut up, Ron," Harry said, pushing Ron back onto the bed.

Ron struggled, trying to sit up, but he passed out before he could.

Sirius shook his head. "I'll be back before supper," Sirius said. He returned to his room, where he grabbed his jacket and his wand, his wallet and his keys, and cruised off on his bike.

...

"Come on, Hermione, it won't be that bad," Ginny said as she tried to comfort her best friend. She patted her back. Hermione was laying on her stomach, arms tucked tightly around around a pillow. "Sirius is beyond sexy. And he'll make sure you have a kid on time."

"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed, eyes wide and surprised Ginny would say such a thing.

Ginny laughed. "Seriously, though, Hermione. He'll try his hardest to keep you safe, from the Ministry, from Death Eaters."

"That's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried about being safe from HIM."

Ginny sighed. "Hermione, what other choice have you got?"

Hermione didn't answer.

Ginny stood. "Well, when you decide to take things seriously, come downstairs. I found a bunch of wedding dress catalogs."

Hermione groaned and dropped her face into her pillow. She should have known Ginny would force her into a big wedding. It was inevitable. And she also knew, deep inside of her, that she had to marry Sirius. So she gave in.

She picked out a wedding dress, and the wedding was planned.

Two more strange things to add to her list this week. She'd cried on Sirius Black: her fiancé.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey! Well, all of the feedback was positive, so I decided "Why not!" I just thought it best to warn you, though, that you guys are definitely being spoiled. I don't think I'll be able to always update this fast. The thing is, I've already got four chapters written. I'll do my best to keep up, but I've got 3 other fanfictions at the current time...so I promise that fanfictions are a first priority in my writing, and I will write a bit every single day to keep up!

And, here it is! The next chapter!

...

Getting the license was easy. Keeping it, Hermione thought, would be the hardest part.

"We are aware that many muggleborn wizards are simply marrying Pureblood friends to escape the law," said the annoying little man behind the desk. "This is why once a month, we have set inspections. You will be notified the day before of each inspection, and we will come in, check out your living area, and ask you questions about each other and your married life."

Hermione chewed her lip and tugged at the hem of her skirt. Sirius noticed these as signs of nervousness. He wrapped and arm around her shoulder, something he figured a normal fiancé would do. Hermione tensed, but at least it made her stop fidgeting.

"Erm...what if we don't have a house yet?" Sirius asked the man.

Mr. Landon rose an eyebrow. "Oh, really? Well, where are you living now, Mr. Black?"

"The street," Sirius said, his acting impeccable. "You see, it's not too often an ex-convict is able to find somewhere to live, especially when he's one of the most dangerous there's ever been. Next to Voldemort, of course, but he's a different story. I'm innocent. But-"

Hermione stepped on his toes. Sirius bit his tongue.

Hermione tried to smile at the little man. "You see, Mr. Landon, we've been living in different hotels for some time now. Ever since Hogwarts, I've had no where to go but a friend of mine's, but I decided that staying with my boyfriend would be smarter-"

"I understand, Miss Granger," Mr. Landon said. "Well, as soon as you're situated, I ask that you owl me immediately so that we can begin inspections. The penalty of failure to do this is a life sentence in Azkaban."

"We understand," Hermione said.

His smile was almost as fake as his hair, his teeth that all pointed towards the front of his mouth, nearly poking from his lips. "Good. Then you're free to go. And good luck with your house. And children."

Hermione pulled Sirius from the room before he could do anything to jeopardise their situation further. "Come along, darling. And thank you, Mr. Landon."

He gave her another frightening smile, and then Sirius apparated them from the main entrance.

"Good luck with your children," Sirius grumbled as Remus placed a glass of fire-whiskey in front of his friend, knowing that was one of the most difficult things he'd ever had to do.

"He was only trying to be polite," Hermione said gently as she pulled pins from her hair. She'd made it look nice for appearing in the ministry, like she did for work, but she would rather leave it down. It felt more comfortable that way.

"Polite my arse," Sirius grumbled. "The guy's a creep. Did you see how he kept looking down your shirt? What a scumbag. Just kill me now if I have to see him once a month for those inspections."

"Speaking of the inspections," Remus spoke up, his chuckling at his friends rant ceasing. "After your wedding on Friday night, we've found and furnished a flat for the two of you. We used some of your parents old furniture, Hermione." He smiled lightly at her. "I hope you don't mind."

Hermione shook her head. "Not at all."

He nodded. "Good. And all of the women of the Order have the wedding under control. The ceremony is on Friday, like I said. I'm sorry it has got to be so private and no one can really know about it, but we had to take all of the necessary precautions. I'm sorry."

Hermione only nodded, scraping her hands through her hair as she tried to manage the mad curls covering her head. "It's alright, Remus, I understand. As long as I can invite a few people..."

"Like who?" Sirius asked, eyebrows raised.

"Like my friend Viktor..."

"Krum?" Sirius asked. He barked out a laugh. "Oh, yes. Ron told me all about the Bulgarian dream boat you dated."

"Yes, well, Ron needs to keep his nose in his own business and keep it out of mine," Hermione said. "Anyways, we dated for like, three months, tops."

"I'll leave contacting who you'd like to see at your wedding besides the order to you, Hermione," Remus said with a smile. "Now, I was supposed to help make bouquets or something, but I'm pretty sure I'll mess it up and they'll kick me out. See you in a couple of minutes, guys."

Sirius laughed as he left, then turned to his fiancée, who was quite disgruntled as she tried to fix her hair.

Sirius groaned from exertion as he leaned forward and grabbed her wrists. He examined her closely, much to Hermione's embarrassment, then let go. "Leave it. You look much prettier with a messy hair look."

"Thank you, Sirius," Hermione said sarcastically.

"No, I mean it," Sirius said, eyebrows raised as he set down his firewhiskey. "The style really suits you. It looks like you just got off my bike. All windblown."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, Sirius, whatever you say."

Sirius shrugged. "Just trying to give you a bit of a compliment."

"I appreciate it."

They sat in an awkward silence for a few moments.

"You know, Hermione, you really are very pretty," Sirius said thoughtfully. "I'm really sorry you've got to waste it on me."

Hermione smiled at him. "That's not true."

"It is! You've got something."

"Even if I did, it wouldn't be wasted on Sirius Black, the sexiest convict the world has ever seen."

Sirius smirked smugly. "You really think that?"

"No, I read it in a Rita Skeeter article. I don't even know why I read that woman's article's. She has absolutely no talent and all she does is spread obnoxious lies and rumours."

"I'm pretty sure what you just told me is the most truthful thing she's ever said," Sirius insisted.

Hermione laughed. "Whatever you say, Sirius. Whatever you say."

...

There you have it! Chapter 3!

Now, lets see...8 reviews and I'll post chapter four? Hm? I already have five, guys, come on! Three reviews isn't that hard. ^^

I'll see you next chapter then!


	4. Chapter 4

After the ceremony that Friday, Hermione found that she had drank four glasses of wine in less than an hour, and had no intentions of slowing down. There was just something about this stuff that made her feel better. It also made the slowly healing cut on her neck feel better.

Whatever had been in that jar was impervious to magical healing, and causing the cut to heal as slowly as possible.

She sighed and crossed her legs, looking around 12 Grimmauld Place. The entire Order was there, along with Viktor Krum. Her only other friends from Hogwarts had either tried and failed to join the Order, or they were in hiding with their parents. Viktor had jumped immediately at the thought of marrying Hermione.

"Why did you not ask me for marriage?" Viktor asked her in his broken English when he'd arrived.

Hermione smiled softly as she pulled away from his hug. "Oh, I'm sorry, Viktor. I had to marry within the Order. For protection reasons."

He'd nodded, but it looked like he really didn't want to understand.

Hermione leaned her elbows on her crossed leg, her glass of wine held loosely in her fingertips. McGonnagal smiled kindly at her from where she was talking to Snape, who also granted her the tiniest of smiles. He'd been quite a bit kinder since they'd saved him from being killed by the poisonous bites from Nagini. Something was different about him, though he was still cold to those he'd hated before. He'd never really had any reason to hate Hermione, and now that she was marrying one of his biggest enemies, he must have felt bad for her. He'd even brought her flowers when she'd had to stay in bed because of a mysterious illness that left her too woozy to even stand.

Ron was, obviously, the drunkest one there, though he was being closely followed by Oliver Wood, who had joined the Order recently, and Harry.

Sirius was edging in on intoxication, but Remus wouldn't allow him to get too far gone, for fear that he might hurt Hermione when they left for their honeymoon that night. They had to keep up the appearance that this was a real wedding, so they were visiting America, somewhere Hermione had always wasnted to go. They would be going to Wisconsin for the week. She'd laughed, thinking up all of the stereotypes she'd heard about the "Dairy State."

Ron was screaming something about starting a fight, so Snape, the brave one, decided to take him outside for some air.

"How are you doing?"

Hermione looked up to see Ginny, her Maid of Honor, taking the seat in front of her.

Hermione shrugged. "I'm alright I guess."

Ginny nodded, smiling to comfort Hermione. She knew this must have been hard on her, but she had so many questions! So many questions that _needed _ answers. And good ones.

"So..." Ginny said, taking a sip of her own wine. "The hotel room Remus reserved only has one bed."

Hermione nearly spat her wine back into the glass, but was able to manage. "I'm sure we'll think of something," she said.

"You're not sharing a bed with him?" Ginny asked incredulously.

"No!" Hermione exclaimed, eyes wide. "Why on Earth would I?"

"I don't know, maybe because he's your husband!" Ginny replied fiercely. "Godric, Hermione, I thought you'd be sleeping with him tonight!"

Hermione's jaw dropped, and she made strange hand-motions to accompany her spluttering words. "You-you mean-" Her eyes widened. "Ginny!"

"What?" Ginny nearly cried. "He's your husband, Hermione! And if you don't eventually, you'll be killed!"

"I am not ever sleeping with that man!" Hermione whispered visciously. "I'll figure something out, really!"

"How?" Ginny laughed. "Hermione, there's only one way _too _do it! You and Sirius have to have sex!"

"Well, that was a bit forward, don't you think?"

Both girls froze and turned to the mysterious speaker, fearing it was who they thought it was.

It was him.

Sirius laughed at their expressions. "What do you say we ditch this thing early, Hermione? Just you and me? And Ginny, if you want to come. But you can't tell your mum. She hates me enough already."

Ginny laughed and looked like she might agree, but then a thought creeped into her mind. "No, that's perfectly fine. Go uh..." She looked Sirius up and down, then stood. "Go enjoy your wife." She walked away, leaving Sirius laughing madly and Hermione blushing nearly as fiercely.

"That Ginny is something else," Sirius said, shaking his head as he led Hermione up the stairs. "Can you meet me in my room in five minutes with your things? I'll give you time to change if you want to."

Hermione smiled politely at him and shut herself in her room. It was pitch dark but she didn't care.

She sunk to the floor. Five minutes was all she needed. All at once, more and more tears began flowing from her eyes. She was crying so hard it nearly hurt. With the few minutes left to spare, she got herself under control, wiped her eyes, and found her bags, all in the dark.

Then she approached the door to the room of her husband. She nearly started crying again at that. She'd wanted her first husband to be Ron. But it was a few nights before when she realised...she wasn't really upset as she should have been at having to marry someone when she was supposedly in love with someone else. Had she really loved him at all?

Of course she had. But she was starting to doubt that the love was any different than the love she had for Harry.

And she knew that she for sure did not love the man she was standing at the bedroom door of.

Sure, she'd had a silly little crush on him as a child, but that was ages ago. This was now, on her wedding night, and she knew she had no feelings for him. She was trying to figure him out! How could she love a person she barely knew?

With a deep breath, Hermione tapped on his door.

It opened after a few moments, and Sirius winked as he let her in. Hermione tried not to look around too much. If he noticed her runny makeup, he didn't show it.

"Ready?" Sirius asked, holding out his arm, his hand gripping his suitcase tightly.

And even though she wasn't, she nodded, offered the smallest of teary-eyed smiles, and took his arm, letting him pull her to a different country entirely. This week was so strange, she could hardly stand it anymore.

...

It was raining in the Wisconsin Dells, with a big threat of thunderstorms.

This worried Hermione. Ever since the Battle of Hogwarts, she found herself more and more worried when it came to loud noises. She couldn't entirely help it-thunder sounded like an explosion, one that might cause her harm.

She hoped it wouldn't storm.

But at the current time, it was only rain, and she and Sirius had ducked into a little American pub for a drink and to see if the rain would let up a bit before they walked down the street to their hotel.

After the bartender got over the fact that they were British newlyweds and ceased teasing them that they didn't seem the least bit affectionate and suggested they were married for something else-causing Sirius to give him such a fierce glare that the man beside them had left-they were all alone with their thoughts and their drinks.

Hermione sipped thoughtfully, while Sirius was constantly refilling his glass.

"You alright, there, sweetheart?" Sirius asked, dropping a hand on her sopping wet shoulder.

She shrugged. "I guess."

"I have a question."

He sounded a bit anxious. Hermione glanced at him from beneath her bangs, which were plastered to her forehead.

"Are we doing it tonight?"

Hermione looked away immediately. "Absolutely not."

"I thought that might be the case," Sirius said.

They sat in silence.

"I have another question."

"Yes?"

"Are you a virgin?"

Hermione glared at him. "If you must know, then yes, I am."

Sirius nodded. "I'm sorry I'll have to change that."

"What do you mean?"

Sirius rose his eyebrows. "We have to have a kid somehow. I married you, I'm not letting them kill you for something like this."

Hermione groaned. "Isn't there some other way?"

Sirius chuckled. "I'm afraid not."

She dropped her head onto the table.

After a while, she noticed that all of the wine was really catching up with her, and the beer in her hands was helping nothing. "I use to have the biggest crush on you," she slurred. "But now I been thinkin', 'Why? Who is Sirius Black?'"

Sirius laughed. "Hermione, I think it's time we head back."

"Why's that?"

"You're drunk!"

She tried to sit up and put her hands on her hips. "Sirius Black, Hermione Granger does not get drunk."

"Well, Hermione Granger might not, but I'm pretty sure that Hermione Black just did," Sirius said, a big grin on his face. "Let's go to our hotel."

She grinned up at him. "Okay, puppy."

Sirius quirked an eyebrow as he pulled her up like the bride she was. "Puppy?"

She looked around before putting a finger to her lips. "You're a puppy. But you can't tell the Americans."

Sirius laughed and carried her out of the bar and into the rain. Drunk Hermione was a real sidesplitter. She continued rambling about the craziest things as he carried her through the rain and into their hotel. He managed to check in and carry Hermione and their bags into the elevator and up the room.

He unlocked the door and set Hermione down on the couch. "Time to dry off," Sirius said, reaching for her bag to get her some fresh clothes.

She started to pull off her dress right in front of him. Sirius rolled his eyes and turned around, knowing how much she'd hate him if he looked. He didn't need her to hate him, no matter how tempted he was to sneak a peek.

"Godric, listen to that wind, Hermione," Sirius mused allowed. "That storm's really picking up."

Something snapped in Hermione's brain. "Storm?" She said.

Sirius glanced at her over his shoulder. When he saw that she was decent, he turned around to see she looked afraid as she stared out the window.

"Yeah," Sirius said as he pulled off his shirt. "The weather man said it was going to be a pretty bad one. Hey, are you alright?"

She was getting pale. "Er-yeah, I'm fine."

He chuckled. "You sure sobered up fast. What the hell?"

"I'm going to bed."

"I'll be right in."

"I'm sleeping on the floor, Sirius."

Sirius turned from the bathroom. "What?"

"I'm going to sleep on the floor." She was pulling an extra blanket down from a shelf in the closet by the door, where she had hung her wedding dress.

"Oh, no, you're not," Sirius said, taking the blanket from her. "If anyone's sleeping on the floor, it's going to be me, and that's not going to happen."

She glared at him. "I'm not sleeping with you, Sirius."

"You don't have to," Sirius replied, also glaring. She was so insufferable sometimes, it killed him. "You can sleep next to me."

"Give me that, blanket, Black," she growled, trying to take it from him.

He rolled his eyes. "Hermione, you can't beat me. I'm older, I may not be smarter, but I'm stronger. So get your arse in that bed and I'll keep my distance."

"You won't have to if I'm on the floor."

She just would not give up.

Sirius turned and glared harder. Then he sneered. "What, are you afraid of me?"

The very thought seemed to shock her, like she was wondering if maybe she should fear him. "N-no."

"Oh, really?" Sirius said. "Then sleep in that bed with me tonight."

"Sirius-"

"No," Sirius said, taking the blanket into the bathroom with him. "I understand. You're too afraid of me. That's alright. Then take the floor."

"I'm not afraid of you!"

Her voice was so loud that it startled Sirius nearly out of his wits. He turned, eyes narrowed. "Then prove it."

"I will!"

"Alright, then!"

He turned and slammed the door to the bathroom.

She stomped her foot and exclaimed in an angry growl.

She then realized what had just happened. She'd just lost.

She narrowed her eyes at the door to the bathroom. She'd get him next time.

...

Well, you guessed it! It didn't take long, but I got eight reviews! This is all I have written, but I'll post as soon as I finish a chapter. That didn't take long! And I must love you guys, because I edited this during that metal show. And they had Danzig and Bill Ward as guest stars! :O

So, yeah. I love you all. And I posted the chapter.

I have nothing else to say.

OH! Except, keep an eye on the updates journal on my profile. It's near the top, just under my personal info. :)

Okay, goodbye now!

Andreviewsareappreciatedbye!


	5. Chapter 5

Sirius was in the bathroom for about five minutes, changing from his sopping clothes and listening to the slowly approaching storm. When he came out, Hermione was laying in the bed. He smirked. He'd won.

She was curled up in a little ball, holding tightly to her legs, her face buried in the pillow. _Is that how she sleeps? _He wondered. How could she sleep with her arms so tight around her legs? Didn't she need to relax?

He shrugged.

He climbed into his side of the bed and found Hermione was shaking.

"Hermione?" Sirius said, surprised. "Hermione, are you alright?" He placed a hand on her back. "Oh, I'm sorry, Hermione, I really didn't mean to-"

Before he could finish, though, there was a loud crack of thunder. Hermione shrieked and jumped nearly a foot in the air. Sirius grabbed her around the waist to prevent her from falling off of the bed.

"Hermione!" Sirius exclaimed, worried. "Hermione are you alright? You're..." He watched her shivering form. He couldn't see her face, but he could still hear her silent crying. "Are you afraid of thunder?"

"Just go to sleep, Sirius," Hermione whispered. "I'll be fine."

"No, it's alright," Sirius said. "It's because of the war, isn't it?" She didn't reply. "It's okay, the war has affected everyone. Even me! I'm absolutely terrified of curtains."

She laughed quietly, but midway through there was another rumble of thunder, and she burst into another round of tears.

"Alright," Sirius said, gathering her into his arms. "Come here. Just try to relax. Don't think about it."

Suddenly, a thought came to his mind. "Do you like Aerosmith?"

Hermione shrugged.

Sirius reached over to the stereo on the bedside table and slid his copy of Aerosmith: A Little South of Sanity disc one from his suitcase into the slot. He knew that the loud, live music would drown out the noise, or she could just concentrate on the music and it would take her mind off of the continuous cracks of thunder. As the savage sound of drum beats signaled the beginning of "Eat the Rich," Sirius noticed Hermione calm a little bit. She was no longer shaking as hard as only seconds before.

Sirius noticed after several songs that he had been unconsciouslly stroking her hair. "Angel" tended to do things to him. He then noticed she'd fallen asleep somewhere during the short time he'd been holding her. Gently, he leaned to turn off the stereo, not wanting to jostle Hermione, and he slid deeper beneath the comforter with Hermione still held closely.

...

Hermione woke up the next morning very well rested. The only thing urging her to get out of the warm, comfortable bed she was sleeping in was the horrible need to use the bathroom. But there was a problem. When she moved to stand up, something was holding tight to her waste, preventing her to stand.

She looked down to see that her "warm, comfortable bed," was actually Sirius Black, her new husband.

_What happened last night?_

Hermione struggled to sit up. Her struggling managed to wake Sirius, who looked sleepily down at her.

"What are you doing, Hermione?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Trying to untangle myself," she said through her struggles.

He laughed and let her go. She fell over onto the floor, squeeking as she realized there was no bed for her to land on. Sirius, his reflexes amazing even in the early morning, grasped the back of Hermione's shirt, preventing her head from hitting the floor.

She glared up at him. "Let me go."

"You'll hit your head," Sirius said, grinning.

She continued glaring. "I'll catch myself."

"Suit yourself."

She gasped as her head made contact with the floor.

Sirius barked out a laugh. "I warned you!"

"I wasn't ready!"

He continued laughing. Hermione got to her feet and glared angrily at him, then turned and marched off to the bathroom. She slammed the door shut and started the shower.

It was a few moments before she realized she had forgotten to bring her clothes in with her. Groaning to herself, she rinsed the remainder of hotel brand conditioner from her hair and reached out to find a towel, pressed in between the metal bars on the wall.

This towel was all she had to cover herself as she left the room.

She first poked her head out through the door, peering around to see if she could spot where her husband was at. When she didn't see him, she rushed out to grab her suitcase, only to slam into something tall, hard, and mysteriously shaped like Sirius Black.

And as she looked up from the floor, she found that it was, indeed, the notorious Sirius Black.

He chuckled and held up her suitcase. "Looking for this?"

She groaned as she tried to stand up without revealing more than necessary. Already she felt she was showing too much to the older man. She took the suitcase and left without a single word leaving her lips.

Sirius stared after her, mesmerized.

She was _hot_. How had he not noticed before? She obviously had, as she'd told him of her crush the night before at that pub. But he...he'd only ever seen her as Harry Potter's best friend, the bookworm with scarily mad curls, the brightest witch of her age, the girl who had discovered Remus was a werewolf quicker than any of his other friends had. She had many more titles, he realised. Like the girl with pretty eyes, and the girl with nice legs. He'd only sort of noticed these things in passing, though. He'd never actually accumulated them to anything.

Why had everything suddenly come together at that moment?

_Well, _he thought. _I am Sirius Black, the womanizing skirt-chaser._ It was true. He'd noticed she was so pretty because of her lack of clothing.

But as he thought back on it, the thoughts had always been there, just dormant until he had accidentally knocked her to the floor in nothing but a tiny, hotel shower, fresh from the shower after sharing a night in his bed.

He shook his head, a wolfish grin on his lips as he turned and sorted through his suitcase, in search of something to wear that day. He thought breakfast and a dip in the pool their hotel held sounded nice. And Hermione really couldn't protest. It wasn't like there was much of anything else to do.

Hermione, on the other hand, was brooding in the bathroom. She had been dressed for several minutes, sitting on the toilet with her dripping hair soaking her clothes, but she was too caught up in her thoughts to do anything to stop it.

How dare he grin at her like that as she sat on the floor! How dare he trick her into sleeping in his bed! And how dare he sleep with her stuck to his chest! Had he even asked? No, he'd just decided she needed the help and pulled her up against him.

Sure, she wouldn't have been this well rested without him. Actually, she probably wouldn't have gotten any sleep at all whatsoever. But she'd dealt with previous storms! She'd destroyed horcruxes, for goodness sake! She'd saved Harry Potter's life on numerous occasions, and helped to kill the most terrifying wizard in history! She'd dealt with any fear she may have felt all by herself for years, she didn't need his help.

Well, she'd just have to show him she didn't need him. She'd get breakfast on her own, and then spend the entire day reading at the pool.

A single thought rested at the back of her mind, though.

_"You and Sirius have to have sex!"_

Ginny was right, of course. Hermione knew everything that needed to happen for a girl to get pregnant, and so she really did need Sirius. But there had to be another way. Maybe she and Ron...

No, that would be wrong. And they would most certainly do some sort of test on the baby to make sure it was really his.

She made up her mind. She would go to the library in Diagon Alley and find a book that had spells based on this sort of thing. She'd find a way to get out of this.

Or she would be the mother of Sirius Black's child. And things couldn't get more strange.

...

Well, I told you I'd post as soon as I finished the next chapter!

To tell you the truth, I really didn't think I'd finish the same day, but you know what? Who cares! I don't know when the next chapter will be done, but you can expect something within the next couple of days. Who knows. Maybe even tomorrow.

I'm kind of strange that way. Just keep an eye out!


	6. Chapter 6

Not my favourite chapter. Hermione seems too OOC, even if she admits to herself that she wasn't being herself. I don't know. But I like jealous Sirius. ^^ Not in this chapter, of course, as you'll see, but in the next ones!

Disclaimer: Don't own Harry Potter or anything else you recognise.

...

Hermione's plans were working themselves out phenominally. That is, until she tried to put them into action. She was about to leave to go find somewhere for breakfast, when Sirius blocked the door.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Hermione tried to glare at him, but his wink always made anger difficult.

"I'm going to get breakfast."

"Great! I'll come with you."

He opened the door for her and followed her out. She turned to him.

"No, that's alright," she said politely. "I'd much rather go by myself."

"Oh, yeah?"

"That's right," she said curtly, nodding to put emphasis on her sentence.

He smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. "With what money?"

That's when the rest of her day began to crumble. She didn't _have _any money, and Remus had given Sirius enough for the entire honeymoon. Of course, it was _their _ money, but she would have to _ask _him for it, resulting in necessary speech. There was also the fact that he would have to agree to give her the money, which Hermione seriously doubted he would do.

And thus, she spent the day with him, if begrudgingly. He bought her breakfast with _their _money, and they went down into the pool afterwords, where Hermione read and Sirius watched all of the girls parading around in bikini's. Hermione remained in her t-shirt.

While she was cross with him at the moment for being so smug all of the time, and really just for being Sirius Black, who thought he deserved everything, she still felt jealous with every flirtatious wink he gave out, and even the ones he received in return. Did they not see the ring clearly shimmering on his left hand?

And why was she so jealous?

She hated the feeling, but every couple of seconds she felt herself looking up from her book at the man, wildly playing with some guys he met in the pool, playing water basket ball and howling at every girl who walked by.

Hermione couldn't even bring herself to read any more. She just slammed the book shut and set it aside. It caused such a loud noise that everyone around her stopped to stare, but she was far from caring.

Two could play at this game, couldn't they?

She pulled her t-shirt over her head, revealing the rather small bikini she hated to wear because it made her feel so incredibly naked in it. But it was perfect for now.

Running from Death Eaters could really do something for your figure.

It really wasn't her. She had no idea how to act in the least bit flirtatious. The only boy she'd ever dated was Ron and McLaggen, which really wasn't enough to figure everything out.

But she pulled her claw clip from her hair and shook it out. Already she noticed the eyes of the men around her on her. Normally, she would have ignored them and thought they were incredibly creepy, trying to escape the situation all together.

Now, she tried out her own version of the Sirius Black wink.

It worked.

After swimming a bit, she decided to lay out to dry. When she opened her eyes, there were three guys surrounding her. One of them was tall, black, and incredibly built. The next was shorter, but made up for it with his abdominal muscles. And the third was average height and average build, but he was beautiful nonetheless.

She grinned at them. "Can I help you with something?"

"We were just wondering what you did for a living," said the shorter man. Americans.

"You've got an incredible body," said the taller one. "I thought you might be a gymnast."

Hermione laughed, happy that everything seemed to be working. "If you must know, in the country I'm from, I was a war hero."

The average one looked surprised. "But you can't be more than sixteen!"

"Seventeen," she replied. Then she said smugly, "And yes, I am. I helped kill the leader of the other side. We're nearly won."

"Where are you from?" asked the taller one.

"You wouldn't know it if I told you. It's no where an American would ever go," Hermione laughed. She held out her hand. "My name is Hermione, by the way."

They each shook her hand. The tallest one was Jim, the shortest was Al, and the average was Duke.

"So you're really a war hero?"

"Yes, she is."

Hermione's eyes widened.

"And she's also my wife."

The three turned from the conversation they'd been having with Hermione for the past couple of minutes.

Jim stood up, obviously believing he could take him on.

"You look like you could be fifteen years older than her, and you're married to her?" he said. "She's seventeen!"

"And where we're from, seventeen is all you need to be."

The men glared at him.

"It's alright, Sirius," Hermione said, smiling at him smugly. "We were only talking."

"Like you would know," Sirius said angrily. "How many did you date before me? McLaggen the stupid and Ron the perpetual drunk? How would you know what these guys are up to?"

"Sirius!" Hermione hissed at him. "It's not Ron's fault. Leave them alone. Leave me alone, for that matter. Why don't you go talk to one of those girls you were talking to?"

"Because _darling,_" Sirius drawled. "I have some dignity, and know that because you are my wife, there are things I will have to give up!"

"Hermione, we're going to go..." Duke mumbled.

"So soon?" Hermione asked. "Well, alright. I'm sorry my husband had to ruin everything. Maybe I'll see you around?"

"Yeah," Sirius growled menacingly. "Maybe. Come along, Hermione, we're leaving."

"Leaving?" Hermione asked, eyes wide with confusion. "Where?"

"To Number 12," Sirius said.

Hermione, confused, gathered all of her things and was about to leave, when she felt something shoved around her. Sirius' shirt. She rolled her eyes and pulled her hair from the neck, then looped her arm through her bag and left, Sirius quickly following her.

As soon as they were in the hallway, Sirius roughly grabbed her upper arm and pulled her towards their room.

"Hey!" Hermione exclaimed. "Sirius! Let me go!"

He shoved her into their room, still holding onto her arm, and knocked her onto the bed, finally letting her go.

She glared at him visiously from the bed. "What the _heck _Sirius?"

"What the heck?" Sirius yelled. "I should be asking you the same thing! What was that?"

"What?" she asked innocently.

"You know what!" He bellowed. "Those men! What on Earth has gotten into you! I gave up other girls for you! I think you should have done the same with other guys! I've never even seen you like this!"

Hermione knew he was right, but she still couldn't help feeling angry. "You were winking and talking to all of those other girls!" she quickly returned. "I thought-"

"Hermione, it didn't mean anything!" Sirius shouted over her defense. "It's like a second nature to me! I'm trying to give it up, but you weren't trying! The only thing you were trying to do was catch the eye of every git there!"

"Whatever, Sirius," Hermione grumbled, looking away from him. "Are we really going back?"

"No," Sirius said. "And we're not finished yet."

"And I say we are!" Hermione exclaimed.

Sirius growled at her. "Hermione, what is going on with you?"

"I don't know!" She shouted, then she rolled off the bed and slammed the door to the bathroom, locking it behind her.

She needed a good think, and this was the only place she could get away to.

A few seconds later, Sirius heard the unmistakable crack of an apparition.

...

So, there's the next chapter! I'll post the next one as soon as it's written!

And I love you're reviews. ^^


	7. Chapter 7

So, this is for GASPLudwig, who has always been a wonderful reviewer, and it's their birthday. ^^ At least, that's what the review said, and I'm just believing you!

Here's the story, then!

...

"Fine," Sirius grumbled to himself. "If Hermione can storm off and do whatever she feels like, then I can, too."

So he grabbed a room key and his wand and apparated to the Twisted Wand, a rowdy pub he knew the owner of, but not before letting a few people know he was going to be there. When he got there, he was warmly and violently received by nearly everyone there with high-fives, fist-bumps, chest-bumps, and the obnoxious yelling most men tend to greet each other with.

"Hey, Sirius, where've you been?" Cried one man, a friend from his Hogwarts days, known as "One-Eye Joe," because, obviously, he was missing an eye. It had been forcefully taken from him by Bellatrix Lestrange just out of Hogwarts. Of course, he wasn't really planning on handing it over, but still.

"Yeah, mate!" shouted another man. "You missed my party last week! And you're note was really vague, what happened?" This was "No-Arm Hamilton," because of his missing arm, taken from him by a _very _angry Hippogriff his sixth year of Hogwarts. He had a pretty cool wooden arm that he'd been able to use magic to work, though, so it was all good.

"And you didn't come to that concert with me on Friday!" said yet another man. This was "One-Leg Morry." He had both of his legs, so his name really didn't make a lot of sense, but he was missing a lung, so it could have counted.

"I know, I know, guys," Sirius said as the bartender automatically handed him a drink, passing along an "On the house!" from the boss. "But you see, something's happened that has prohibited me from escaping my home."

"You're Sirius Black!" One-leg Morry announced. "You can come and go as you please, you cheeky brute! What could possibly be holding you down?"

"Well, fellows," Sirius said, slamming down his already empty glass. "I got married."

The three men he'd been talking to gaped for several moments, before One-Eye Joe burst into uproarious laughter. "That's a good one, mate! Sirius Black, a married man! Now, where have you really been?"

"I'm telling the truth!" Sirius laughed. "I'm married! And she's young, turning eighteen this very next month!"

"Black, you cradle-robber!" No-Arm Hamilton shouted, still laughing. "What in Merlin's name possessed you to marry a seventeen year old?"

"Nope, men, it's strictly confidential reasons," Sirius said with a goofy grin. "But I'm married now! Gotta be looking out for myself!"

"If you just got married, then where is the little lady?" Joe asked him.

This caused Sirius to freeze for a fraction of a second. It wasn't long enough for them to notice-they weren't close enough to him for that-but it was just enough for several thoughts to cross his mind all at once. Where was she? Was she safe? Maybe he should go find her before some Death Eaters did. Maybe he shouldn't have let her leave. He needed to make up.

But he'd concluded, at the end of his second-fraction, that she just needed to blow off some steam. He knew that he, personally, hated talking to people he was angry with right after they'd argued.

So he waved them off.

"She's just out doing some shopping," Sirius lied. "None of my business. I just gave her the money and let her enjoy her own honeymoon!"

The men laughed. They chatted for hours. Sirius really didn't see any reason to leave-Hermione obviously wasn't missing him.

But then he saw something he wished he hadn't.

"Sirius?"

"Harry!" Sirius exclaimed. "What are you doing in a rough place like this?"

"I should be asking you the same question!" Harry yelled over the noise. "Where's Hermione?"

"Er...can we not talk about this here?"

"We don't need to, it was a test," Harry replied loudly. "I saw her walking down the street just a few minutes ago. She's crying. Take a look."

Harry nodded towards the window, and Sirius automatically followed his gaze. And there was Hermione. She had changed into something far more appropriate, and was seated on a bench, pouring over some volume or other. Several other books rested on the bench beside her, along with her wand and a small bag. And just as Harry had said, tears were dripping from her eyes and onto the filthy pages of the library book.

"What did you do to her?" Harry asked crossly.

"Can we talk about this some other time?" Sirius mumbled guiltily.

Harry gave him a near perfect Molly Weasley glare.

"Alright!" Sirius exclaimed. "We got in an argument. She saw me winking at some girl, so she began flaunting everything she's got to every guy there. I found her talking to three muscle heads and I told her off!"

"Come with me, Sirius," Harry said. He gripped Sirius' arm, and without waiting for an answer, he apparated the two of them to a mysterious, but quiet park.

"I think you really hurt her feelings, Sirius," Harry said. "I haven't seen her cry like this since Ron left us during our hunt for Horcruxes. She was crushed for weeks after that, Sirius. Don't let it happen again."

Sirius sighed. "I didn't mean to hurt her feelings," he said as they began to walk.

"It'll take probably a little more to completely crush her," Harry said, kicking a rock down the path they were on. "See, after Ron left, she put up this sort of...wall around herself, I guess you could say. Ron's been trying to break it down since he came back. I think she's been trying not to care about people so she doesn't feel as vulnerable as she did when Ron left. She was so hurt, Sirius. It was painful to look at her. It made me want to cry, she was that upset."

This was the first Sirius had heard of any of this. No wonder she tended to be so cold towards Ron if he said something she didn't like. She was just trying to show she didn't care! If she could prove to the other's that she didn't care, then she'd most assuredly be able to convince herself that she didn't care. Therefore, she didn't care, and she couldn't be hurt.

The mind and the heart of a teenage girl were similar in three ways-they were complex, they should be handled carefully, and they should not be taken advantage of. They also shouldn't be made fun of, but that was a whole different story, and Sirius knew it. Never tell a motivated girl that she should rethink what she had planned for her future.

Sirius sighed. "I'm going to go find her, then. And I'm going to apologize, and I'll try harder not to hurt her."

"Maybe you shouldn't try to get close to her," Harry said, still kicking pebbles along the way. "Maybe that way, neither of you will get hurt."

Sirius chuckled. "Harry, I'm a grown man. I think I know how to take care of my heart."

"With Hermione?" Harry said, finally looking up. "You might want to watch out for your heart. She's got this way of sneaking inside. For me, it was just a friendly sort of feeling. But for many others..."

He didn't finish, but Sirius knew what he meant.

And he would be careful. It would be easy. He was Sirius Black. He'd had too many one-night stands to count. He'd even been in a "friends-with-benefits" situation. Those all involved holding away your emotions, no strings attached, that sort of thing.

He knew very well how to keep his heart safe from women, and that's exactly what he intended on doing with Hermione.

At least, that's what he'd thought in the beginning.

...

Hermione had gone straight where she'd wanted to after apparating. Her old home. After the war, she hadn't been able to find her parents. Not in England, not in Australia, not anywhere. She intended to continue her searching sometime in the near future, but until then, she had the house magically hidden.

She wandered down the hall to her old bedroom. Inside she found lying on her chair the outfit her mother had bought her to wear on her next birthday, a nice pair of jeans and a pretty brown t-shirt. Realizing she was still in her swimming suit, she stripped Sirius' clothes from herself, along with her suit, and pulled on her "new" clothes, along with undergarments, still in the second drawer from the left in her dresser.

She then washed both Sirius' and her own clothes and put them in a bag she'd found as she sorted through her things. Inside she also threw a few momentos, things from her past. But something she couldn't bring herself to do was to look at the pictures in the picture frames. While she had vanished from every picture, the thought that she might never see her parents again hurt far too much. She couldn't do it.

She had to get out of there. It hurt. Her heart constricted at thoughts of the parents she had given up. She knew it was to keep them safe. If she hadn't, they could easily have been dead by now. It felt good to at least know that they were alive somewhere in the world.

So she took her bag and apparated to Diagon Alley, then headed straight to the library on the corner. She headed directly to the "Spells" section and sorted through any book that might help her. "Quick Fixes," "Problem Solvers," "Parenting Spells," "Life Spells." She checked out all of them.

As she walked down the street, her mind began wandering back to her mother. She'd always wanted grandchildren. Now, Hermione wondered if her mother regretted not having children. If she did, it was all her fault.

Hermione was crying now. She needed to sit down and begin looking through these books. She needed a solution to at least one of her problems before she started thinking about another. And even more, she needed a good distraction from the things that made her heart sting, the things that made it so hard for her to breathe.

She thought she spotted Harry as she walked, but ignored him. It didn't matter if he saw her. She was supposed to be in America, and she knew Harry knew Sirius would never let her leave. Even if she had.

Harry entered the Twisted Wand, a pub she knew he and Ron used to frequent. He had several friends that worked there, she knew.

Hermione walked just a little further down the street, before realizing how dangerous it was, her wandering around as she cried.

She was about to apparate to her and Sirius' hotel, but she then realized seeing Sirius might just make things a lot worse, so she sat down on the nearest bench and began to read the first book on the stack. The tears didn't end, though, and soon she found herself coughing and wishing she were at home and in bed.

She couldn't take it anymore, and didn't care about risking seeing Sirius. She apparated back.

She was thrilled to see that Sirius wasn't there. Quickly, she changed from her nice clothes into a comfortable pair of pyjamas, and she snuggled into the bed.

At the moment, she didn't care if she'd have to spend another night with Sirius. The sky was clear, which meant he had no reason to believe she might need to be comforted. So she would stick to her side, and he would, as promised, maintain his distance, or face the wrath of Hermione Granger.

Sirius returned home shortly after his conversation with Harry. Said conversation left Hermione in a whole new light for him, though. Would this turn into a no-emotion allowed thing? Would that be the way for them to have his and Hermione's child? Would it have to be?

When he'd made it home, he found that Hermione was already deeply asleep, loosley curled up beneath the covers, far to the side. She obviously didn't want to be near him.

He sighed, guilty. It really was his fault. He needed to learn to control the teenage boy inside him that gave in to all of the girls around him, the need for attention, especially from the opposite sex.

He would do that, for Hermione. With her past, she deserved as much. He felt something in the pit of his heart for her after learning more of what had gone on while she and his godson had searched for horcruxes. She'd been left by Ron, the first boy she'd ever loved.

Sirius always knew Ron was a git, but he never thought he might be a stupid one as well.

Sirius climbed gently into bed, trying not to rattle Hermione, but his arm gently brushed hers as he got in. And she felt like ice.

Concerned, Sirius quickly got out of the bed and found the spare blanket they had been fighting over the night before, over Hemrione sleeping on the floor or not. He tucked it around her and pulled the shared comforter around her as well.

It wasn't until he had gotten settled that he realized he hadn't actually been obligated to do that.

So why had he?

Sirius shook his head. Harry was right. Hermione was clouding his thoughts a lot more often. Of course, they'd only been married two days, but already he'd thought of her more than anything else he thought about on a regular basis. He acquired it to the fact that he was seeing her so often, but it's not like he spent every moment with James thinking about James. Or any of his serious girlfriends.

He never thought this much about a specific person, and it confused him to no end.

Where were these feelings coming from?

He didn't know the answer to that, but he knew the answer to a very different question.

He wanted Hermione Granger. Hermione Black. His wife. He'd give anything for her.

He may have not wanted her feelings to be mutual, not that he knew of now, at least, but he most definitely wanted her.

So, he decided, he would chip away the stones holding up the wall surrounding Hermione.

But because Sirius was so clueless when it came to these things, he really didn't understand. He didn't realize that in doing this, he was also removing his own walls. He didn't just want Hermione's body.

He, unbeknownst to himself, wanted Hermione's love.

But because he'd never had the true love of a girl, he didn't know this is what he wanted.

And because he'd never felt true love for a girl, he didn't know that these feelings he had were not lust, but the beginnings to something more. This was the beginning to his true love for Hermione Black, his wife.

And so, with every swung he took as he tried to break down her wall, needing to get next to her, he cluelessly broke his own with one, powerful blow.

By the end of the night, he was secretly, even to himself, dreadfully in love with a girl 17 years younger than himself. He had managed to fall in love with his wife in the short 2 days they were married.

And he, again, didn't realise that he had been a culprit of Hermione's for much longer than he'd thought.

Because, sooner or later, every boy realised that they could not withstand the charm that Hermione Granger had.

And it was all his.

...

Well, that ending was a little dragged out. But I wanted to make this clear: Sirius was in love with her, but he doesn't know it; and he had began falling for her long before.

I liked this chapter. ^^ Dunno about you, but whatever.

Thanks for reading! I'll post again when I can!

Happy birthday, GASPLudwig! ^^


	8. Chapter 8

Hello! Sorry if there's something messed up in here...I proof-read but my sisters adorable bunny Napoleon just hopped all over the keyboard. I think I fixed everything...

Anyways, everything seems sort of distant in this chapter. If you didn't notice, I'm trying to work on writing peoples thoughts and emotions, and I'm not very good. Just bear with me here. ^^

...

Before Hermione had even opened her eyes, all of the thoughts from the day before came flooding back, and she remembered how incredibly cross she was with the man lying next to her, in her bed, with no shirt or pants on.

He really could have had the decency to wear proper night-wear in front of her. At least until they moved into their new flat, where she hoped with all of her heart they had seperate bedrooms. Then he could parade around in his boxers all by himself where no one would be forced to look at him.

But that was besides the point. The real reason she was angry was because of the way he'd been treating her. Wait, no, it wasn't that, it was that he was so smug. Or was she angry because he had been flirting with those girls?

She just didn't know anymore!

Groaning inwardly, she managed to open her eyes and peer around her. She'd slept on her side and Sirius, a man of his word, had stayed far away from her.

She moved to get out of her bed when there was a sharp, stabbing pain in her stomach. She gasped, then groaned at the awful sensation that ripped through her ribcage. She tried to move again, with the same consequences as the previous movement.

She took several deep breaths. _It's okay,_ she told herself. _I'm fine. Just a little stiff from sleeping like this..._

But when she tried to turn over and the pain wrenched through her stomach, not allowing her movement more than flopping onto her back and causing searing agony to burn through her, she knew she was far from fine. She cried out as she landed, startling the man beside her.

"Hermione?" He asked sleepily. "Are you alright, doll?"

Hermione's mind briefly registered the odd name before she felt more pain and began panting.

"Fine," she managed to squeeze through her smarting torment.

But they both knew she was far from fine.

Something wrenched Hermione forward, causing an awful torture to split through her stomach, and she began coughing, hard and painful.

Sirius had managed to wake himself fully by now, and he was horrified. "Hermione!"

He jumped from the bed, but had absolutely no idea what to do. As he watched her hack and cough, aimed at the soft white sheets, he began to see spatters of a bright red liquid.

She was coughing up blood.

More alarmed than ever, Sirius grabbed his wand, took Hermione in his arms, and apparated without a second thought.

This was the second time he'd appeared in St. Mungo's with a bleeding auror in need of serious attention; the same auror, in fact. The only difference was that the last time he had been wearing pants.

He was immediately greeted by several Healers with a stretcher. Her coughing was so loud and his chest was so covered in blood that she could hardly be ignored.

And, just as before, even if she didn't want him to, he absolutely refused to leave her side as they rushed around her with wands and potions, trying both to stop her coughing, any pain she might be in, and, most importantly, they were trying to figure out what was wrong with her.

"Sir, we'd like to ask you a couple of questions about your wife?"

Sirius looked up to the attractive blonde healer holding a towel out for him. He nodded. "To figure out what's wrong with her?" He asked worriedly as he absentmindedly began to wipe her blood from his tattooed and scarred chest.

The healer nodded. "Correct. How old is she?"

"She's seventeen, eighteen next month."

The healer glanced at Sirius suspiciously, but wrote down his answer and moved on to the next question.

"Has she ever done this before?"

"Not that I'm aware of." But what if she had done this before? He'd only known her closely for so long-what if this was an all of the time thing back when she went to Hogwarts?

"And what were those bandages on her neck from?"

"When we were in the Amazon, some Death Eaters covered her in this weird liquid and cut her neck. Some of it got in her bloodstream, along with some weird little black things. She's all clean, though, they made sure of that last time we were here."

The healer nodded and wrote it down. "We're thinking it might be some sort of an illness picked up from inhaling something she shouldn't have. Has she been to an old building recently? Possibly an old house, or maybe a library?"

"Yes!" Sirius exclaimed, recalling seeing a stack of library books on the table when he'd gotten in the night before. "She went to the library in Diagon Alley yesterday."

The healer nodded. "I'm thinking then that she inhaled something that was either in the air or maybe on one of the books. There's a really old substance in her bloodstream, something we haven't seen in years, so there must have been some particles floating around and she was the unfortunate one to inhale it."

"Is she going to be alright?"

Sirius couldn't remember the last time he'd cared enough to ask such a question. But now, he found himself worrying about her safety. He leaned around the healer and saw that a different Healer was tipping her head back, helping her swallow a thick, green potion. She choked for several moments while he patted her back, and then she fell back, completely exhausted and finished with her coughing. The bed in front of her had been showered in her blood.

"We think so," said the Healer. "The potion he gave her is kind of like an antigen. It will test what was found in her blood and produce the necessary defenses against it. She _should _be healed in about three days, maybe more. I think it'd be best if you just took her home and don't let her get up and walk around too much. That potion will probably leave her drained for the remainder of this week anyways."

Sirius nodded. "Do you think you could tell her that I didn't want to leave but I have to owl a friend of mine? If she asks tell her I had to owl Lupin?"

The healer nodded. When he looked back at her to smile in appreciation, he noticed the way in which she was smiling at him.

He grinned at her and apparated, wondering what she was thinking. He hoped she didn't take his rejection too badly.

...

Sirius jumped at the loud noise from the main room. He'd been so lost in his thoughts as he pulled on his clothes that he hardly even noticed that the world around him was there.

Sirius fled the room, buttoning his shirt as he went. "Remus!" Sirius exclaimed.

"I came as quickly as I could," Remus said, panting. "Where is she?"

"She's still at St. Mungo's," Sirius said. "I wanted you to check us out of here and take us home. She's going to be in bed for a couple of days and I want her to be comfortable."

"Comfortable?" Remus said. Something seemed off about Sirius. "Sirius, are you alright?"

"Alright?" Sirius said franticly. In the back of his mind, he knew what Remus meant-he really wasn't himself at the moment-but he pressed on anyways, walking around the room like a crazy man. "My wife is in St. Mungo's! She's-"

"Your _wife?_" Remus asked incredulously. "Sirius, just last week you hardly cared enough to marry her. What happened?"

"I don't know!" Sirius blew up. "I don't know what's wrong with me! But last night I had these very strange thoughts and when I woke up and saw her _dying_ something inside of me snapped and it's confusing the crap out of me and I don't know what to think!"

"Sirius, tell me something."

"What?" Sirius asked, panting after the difficult exertion of screaming his confusion at his best friend.

"Have you ever been in love before?" Remus asked him as if he were asking what the weather would be like for that day.

"Love?" Why on Earth was he asking him these odd questions when they needed to get back to Hermione? "Of course not, Remus, don't be ridiculous! I've never been in love, and you know it!"

"What about Mary Macdonald, you liked her."

"Yes, but I never _loved _her," he said, drawling the word "love." What was Remus even going on about this for?

"Then this explains it."

"Explains what?" Sirius said, about to burst into a sea of strange emotions.

"You've fallen in love with Hermione."

He bursted. It was the all-powerful, single blow to his wall, the realisation hitting him like a hammer. The sea of emotions turned into a terrifying whirl-pool of confusion and love and Hermione and so many feelings he just couldn't seem to place.

"In love with Hermione?" Sirius asked. "No! Don't be so ridiculous!"

"What were these strange thoughts you said you were having last night?" Remus inquired calmly.

"Just..." Sirius shrugged and shook his head. "Just that I wanted her in my bed, no different from thoughts I get from any other extremely attractive girl I see."

"Then why were they so strange?"

Sirius didn't have a truthful answer for him, so he made one up. "Well, because I've never thought this way about someone so young!"

Remus rolled his eyes.

"It's the truth!"

"Sure it is, Sirius," Remus said. "But trust me, one day you'll come to realise these 'strange feelings,' and you'll be far too late."

"What do you mean, too late?"

It was silent for a couple of moments. At least, that's what it felt like to Sirius, as he felt something in his mind click and everything began falling into place.

"Haven't you noticed how men act around Hermione?" Remus demanded softly. "She's pretty, she's smart, she's witty, she's funny, and, like you said, she's extremely attractive. Someone else is going to take her away, Sirius."

"But they can't!" Sirius insisted. "Hermione's _my_ wife! She can't leave!"

"I wouldn't be so sure," Remus replied.

Sirius didn't like the way this conversation was going.

Godric, all he'd asked was the man come over and check them out of their hotel! He didn't need a lecture!

Now he had to go and face Hermione with all of these strange things raging inside of him. The thought that he might be in love with her and didn't just want her for her body. That other people liked Hermione and wanted to take her away from him.

He cursed Remus as he sent him to check them out and gather their things. They'd be meeting in their new flat in about twenty minutes, and his job was to get Hermione there.

Soon, Sirius was standing alone in the center of the hotel room, and everything was shooting at him. Everything had fallen into place.

And it scared the crap out of him.

He tried not to think about it as he made his way to Hermione's room in St. Mungo's. Her figure lying there caused his heart to melt and he just couldn't understand why.

"Hermione?"

He didn't know why it stung so much when she looked at him with such contempt.

"It's time to go. Remus has our things at our flat. Do you want me to carry you?"

Hermione glared at him. She was too tired to speak. Actually, she was too tired to remember why she was so angry with him, but she felt the need to glare at him like this, just out of habit. She was confused when he flinched at her glare. Did he not feel the same anger towards her?

"At least let me help," Sirius said as a healer tapped on his shoulder. He turned towards the same blonde healer from before. "Can I help you?"

"I'll need you to come with me for financial reasons," she said. "And I'll also need to give you some potions for her health."

"Oh, right," Sirius said. He was so completely out of it and it irritated him. He shook his head as he followed the healer out of the room. "I'll be right back, Hermione," he called over his shoulder.

She didn't reply. She just continued to glare.

But, Sirius noticed, Hermione also looked very confused. He felt better knowing that Hermione might be feeling the same confusion he was feeling himself.

After he had filled out several papers the healer gave him, he paid for the small bottle of tiny, star-like pills, and returned for Hermione. Finally, he had to apparate the two of them with her in a wheelchair.

Remus was already in the flat when Sirius got there. It was fully furnished, and he and Hermione's bags from the hotel set up in the living room.

"Hey, Hermione," Remus said softly.

She managed a small smile for him. He returned it.

"The healer said that she's going to be pretty drained for the rest of the week," Sirius said. "Where's her room?"

Remus quirked an eyebrow. "She doesn't have one. You share a room."

Hermione had just enough energy to yell at Remus with her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, but it's not like we have money falling out of our ears," Remus said.

"I have money!" Sirius exclaimed. "Loads of it! I'm completely rich, we could have bought a flat so Hermione could have her own bed!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Well, I'm sorry, but this will have to do for now. It's one of the only Order protected buildings around. Ginny and Harry are moving in down the hall when they get married, and Neville and Luna are the floor above you guys. You'll be fine sharing a bed."

Hermione shook her head.

"Hermione, I'll take the couch," Sirius mumbled, knowing she wasn't going to take this.

She shook her head again. "I want the couch," she managed.

Sirius was surprised, but he pulled out the couch into a bed and moved to lift Hermione onto it.

Again, she contrived the energy for a protest. Remus, chuckling very softly, lifted her himself and placed her on the couch. He took a blanket out of a closet by the door and laid it over her.

It was barely a minute and she was out cold.

"We'll talk tomorrow morning," Remus said quietly to Sirius. "After you've had some more time to think. Until then, just try and keep her comfortable. You know, remember to feed her and bring her something to drink and help her to the bathroom."

"Wait, think about what?" Sirius asked him.

"You'll figure it out," came his muffled reply from behind the door he'd just closed. And then he was gone, having apparated back to Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

This left Sirius alone with whatever he was to be thinking about. Of course, he knew what Remus had meant. That didn't mean he wanted to, but he knew he'd just be lost and confused like this until he had everything figured it out.

And so, because he hated feeling so unsure of himself, Sirius spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about what was going on, both in his mind and in his heart.

...

Aw, Sirius! :)

So, not a favorite of mine. My grammar seems a little off sometimes. And the sentences seem kind of choppy.

But fanfiction is how I practice, so, you know...


	9. Chapter 9

Hey! So I was going to wait until tomorrow to post this, but then I ended up finishing it earlier than I'd planned, and new I'd just forget if I waited, so you get another post today! This is so unlike me. I guess I just like this chapter. Or maybe I like writing more? No, not possible, it's my favorite thing to do.

Oh, well.

I'm just on a role I guess. I'm going to go write a few more chapters of This is My World before I catch up and I'm in trouble. And maybe I'll have another chapter of Muggle Games by midnight. I'm on fire!

Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise, including What's in your milk, which was a game reccommended to me for my Muggle Games story. That chapters next, for my Muggle Games followers. :) Enjoy, people!

...

"How is she?"

Sirius shrugged, looking over his shoulder at the girl sleeping on the couch. "She hasn't woken up since yesterday."

Remus nodded and entered the flat, looking around. "So, did you think about what I said?"

Sirius nodded and turned, silent, as they walked to the kitchen together. He thought about his siloloquies of the night before as he made a drink for both Remus and himself. He had sat on the big bed in the back room, just talking to himself, trying to sort everything out. And it had worked.

"Well?" Remus asked.

"I love Hermione," Sirius began.

Remus smiled softly.

"But I'm not _in _love with her. Do you know what I mean?"

Remus nodded. "Of course I do. You love her like a friend. And who wouldn't? You two have been in such close proximity for a while now. You've had the chance to talk and get to know each other. And now you're married, so you're forced to think about her in an entirely new way. I wouldn't expect you to think of her romantically yet, not at all, but I'd be beyond surprised if you didn't have some sort of feeling for the girl."

Sirius smirked. "You've just got everything sorted out, eh, Remus?"

Remus laughed. "Someone has to keep an eye out for you, and it's not going to be yourself, I can tell you that much right now."

Sirius laughed as well. "No, I guess you're right. I'm too irresponsible for my own good." He frowned into his drink. "I guess I'll be needing to work on that, being married and all, huh?"

Remus smiled. "Afraid so. But if James Potter could do it, you can do it, too."

Sirius grinned, remembering how quickly James shaped up after Lily Evans had begun dating him. As soon as he'd gotten her, he'd had no intention on letting her go.

Sirius hoped he could find someone like that someday. That is, if the war was ever won and this law lifted. Until then, he was taken.

...

It was noon when Hermione finally decided to wake up. Even after so much sleep, though, she was completely wiped out. At least now she could talk and move her arms without feeling faint.

"Hey, there, doll," Sirius said, winking as she blinked her eyes in the sudden light. Sirius was sitting on the couch right beside her, flipping idly through the channels, one arm draped around the back of the couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table.

Hermione would have told him off if it weren't for this annoying haze of lethargy seeming to surround her.

"You need anything?"

"Water," Hermione croaked shortly.

Sirius jumped into action and returned moments later with a glass of water and a strange bottle. She drank half of the water all at once.

"Hold on!" Sirius exclaimed before she could finish it. "You need to take one of these once a day."

He reached two fingers into the bottle and came back what looked like a tiny, twinkling star. It was bright and it danced as if it were made of gases.

"It's so pretty," Hermione managed to whisper.

Sirius smiled and handed it to her.

It was strange, putting something that felt gaseous into her mouth and having it feel solid once inside. Not to mention it tasted like dirt.

She quickly swallowed it with the help of her water, and almost immediately she wasn't as tired as before. She wasn't ready for even going for a walk, but she could now hold her eyes open and concentrate, use her mind.

"Need anything else?" Sirius asked her kindly.

Now that he knew what was going on in his brain-that Hermione was just a cute girl he considered a friend, that he fancied-he was much more confident. He could stand before her and say just what he wanted to. He could handle a small infatuation with a pretty girl.

Years of talking to other girls helped his stupidity filter, so that he didn't have to be careful of what he said. He just knew what to say.

"I'm hungry," she replied.

Sirius smiled. "Remus brought over a few things...what do you want?"

Hermione thought. "Applesauce."

He grinned, amused. "Sure."

He came back a few minutes later with a bowl of applesauce and a spoon. She began eating after quietly thanking him. She didn't say anything until she had finished.

"How long was I sleeping?"

Sirius shrugged. "Till now. You fell asleep right after we got back. It's the day after."

Hermione wasn't really surprised. She actually thought she might have slept longer, with how tired she was.

"Why am I so tired?" She demanded, turning to look at Sirius, who was watching some muggle comedian on the television. "What's wrong with me?"

"Well, nothing anymore," Sirius replied. He winked at her. "The healers say you breathed in something at the library the other day and it got into your bloodstream. The potion they gave you to get rid of it is what's making you tired. You'll be better in a few days."

Hermione nodded. He was being really nice. He had been yelling at her the last time they spoke. They hadn't forgiven each other, or even talked politely since. What was going on?

Sirius laughed when he noticed Hermione kept glancing from the tv to him and then back again. "Can I help you?"

"Why are you being so nice?" She finally exclaimed.

Sirius shrugged and looked back at the comedian on the screen. "Why should I be mean?"

"I deserve it!" She exclaimed. "I was trying to make you jealous!"

"I know, and I forgive you," Sirius replied, not looking at her.

Hermione grumbled something unintelligable, even to herself, and she crossed her arms, looking away. She dind't forgive him. He needed to grow up. She could still see that in the way that he laughed so childishly at the ridiculous jokes made by the comedian, how he had his feet up on the coffee table, how it was noon and he was still in his sweats. How he absolutely refused to wear a shirt.

What was so bad with clothing, anyways?

"Is there something else?" Sirius asked her, grinning.

Hermione looked away. "No. I'm just tired."

Sirius nodded. "They said you would be. Do you need anything? Another pillow, a blanket, more water? The bathroom?"

Hermione's eyes widened in surprise. That's right! How would she get to the bathroom? She could barely lift her back from the couch to adjust her position.

"No," Hermione said. "I think I can handle that endeavour."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself."

But he watched her carefully as she pulled herself off of the couch and made her towards the hall, going to find the bathroom by herself, despite the fact that she hadn't been there before.

It was a good thing, too. As soon as she stumbled, Sirius was able to launch himself across the room to catch her by the elbows and begin walking her to the bathroom.

She tried to wrench her arms away as she used the wall to pull herself down the hall. "I'm fine, Black."

"I don't think so, dollface," Sirius said, grinning.

"Why do you keep calling me that?" Hermione snapped. Was this what he called all of those other girls he had falling out of his bed all of the time?

Sirius shrugged, still holding tight to her arms. "Just comes out when I see you I guess."

They were at the bathroom now. She stopped. "I can take it from here."

"Alright," Sirius said gently. "I'll be here."

"No, you won't," Hermione said. "You'll be there, on the couch."

"Whatever you say, doll."

Hermione dropped to her knees and crawled into the bathroom that way.

Sirius barked out a laugh as he watched, and kindly closed the door behind her.

Several minutes later he heard a quiet knock on the door. Sirius opened it, laughing inwardly. It was funny that she knew he'd still be there.

He helped her to her feet and back to the couch.

"How come you didn't tell me I look so horrible?" Hermione demanded as they got back to the living room.

Sirius laughed again. "You probably wouldn't have appreciated much if I did. Besides, I guess I just didn't notice. You don't look so bad."

Despite herself, she blushed. "Can you get my hairbrush?"

Sirius immediately jumped from the couch and searched the bedroom and the bathroom for her brush. He found it in her suitcase in the end and brought it back to her, only to find her falling asleep once again.

He smiled down at her and set the brush on the table beside her for when she woke up.

...

Hermione wasn't hungry come dinnertime.

"Are you feeling okay?" Sirius asked her, concerned.

"I feel absolutely fine," Hermione said. "I'm just tired." And it was perfectly true. The pain in her stomach hadn't returned, and her coughing had ceased. Now she was just too tired to do anything, like eating or changing. Though she really wished she wasn't too tired to do that. She'd been wearing her pyjamas for quite too long now. She needed to shower, too, and she'd never gotten to brushing her hair. She couldn't bring herself to reach over to the brush just sitting there on the table, just waiting for her.

She sighed and looked away from it. She tilted her head to the side, staring across their flat. The television and coffee table she recognized from her old home, the same with couch. It didn't feel right being in this strange place. She hadn't even been able to see the entire place yet.

She looked away from the room, choosing instead to stare up at the ceiling. But this was boring, so she closed her eyes, allowing her mind to wander.

Sirius was in the kitchen cooking his supper. Hermione was quite surprised to learn that he could cook. It was such a grown up thing to do, and he, quite frankly, was far from it. Briefly, Hermione wondered what else she didn't know about.

Then she realised that she didn't care, and tried to find something else to think about.

Harry and Ron came to mind. What were they up to? This was the longest she'd gone without seeing them in a long time. It was pretty sad, she knew. But ever since the war, the three of them had been basically attached at the hip. They all lived together in Number 12 Grimmauld Place, they all went on Auror missions together. Their bedrooms were right down the hall from each other's.

She wondered what Harry was doing. Probably the red-headed resident of number 12, she slyly thought. Then she wondered about Ron. Most likely just lying in, or irritating the other members of the house. She wondered how the others were dealing with him.

She sighed again, turning onto her side so she was facing the back of the couch. What was she going to do with her self every day? She didn't have a job. Her only real hobbies were reading and practicing spells, but that was mainly because of Hogwarts. She was still allowed on missions, right? This thought worried her. What if she got kidnapped by a Death Eater? He could use the power the Death Eaters had in the ministry to null the marriage between her and Sirius and marry her himself. And if she said no? Death, Azkaban, torture, Veritiserum. She couldn't let the other side get a hold of the knowledge she had been trusted with about the Order of the Phoenix's plans for them.

So, what would she do? Hang out with Ginny, she supposed. She could still apparate to Grimmauld Place and have a chat with Ginny and Harry, maybe she could even do some research on Ron's hex, try and find the reversal.

But not until she got over this. According to Sirius, she was so tired because of the potion they gave her to defend her from the allergens in her blood. It would apparently last most of the next week.

"Hey, Hermione?"

She acknowledged him by lifting her eyes to his and then dropping them back to the brown and gret pattern the couch was made of.

"What's in your milk?"

Hermione turned over and looked at him like he was crazy. He was grinning from ear to ear. "What on Earth, Sirius?" She mumbled quietly, looking away. She wasn't in the mood. She was in more of a wallow in self pity mood.

"It's a game!" Sirius said. "I used to play it all of the time. It's really easy. All you have to do is answer with the same word everytime I give you a question."

She sighed, but decided to humour him.

"So. What's in your milk?"

She rolled her eyes. "Unicorns."

"Okay..." Sirius said, thinking. "What are magical?"

"Unicorns," she sighed. What was the point of this again?

"What have magic blood?"

"Unicorns."

"What are in your pants?"

Hermione's eyebrows rose, but she answered with "Unicorns," just as she was supposed to. She couldn't help a small smile. Unicorns in her pants. How ridiculous.

"What are jumping on Ron?"

"Unicorns." Her small smile felt like it was being tugged at by by fishing hooks, causing it to widen into a grin.

"What are _horny?_"

Hermione burst out laughing. She'd caught on-the questions had to actually work with the answer. And it worked. Unicorns have horns!

"I win!" Sirius exclaimed, pumping a fist into the air, a huge grin on his face.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, controlling herself, though she was still grinning.

"The object of the game is to keep shooting out questions that could make sense with the answer, but make them so ridiculous that the answerer laughs!" Sirius exclaimed. "If they laugh, they lose!"

"Who on Earth came up with this game?" Hermione asked, rolling her eyes. "It's so ridiculous."

Sirius shrugged, still grinning. "Not sure, but they're a right genius, let me tell you."

Hermione rolled her eyes once again. Then she sighed.

"You okay, doll?" Sirius asked, suddenly serious.

She shrugged. "Fine."

"Tired?" Sirius answered for her.

She gave him a small smile. "You guessed it."

He nodded. "Sorry if laughing wore you out or something. I just couldn't stand to see you crying like you were."

Hermione was surprised as he reached forward and touched her face, causing her to realise there were tears on her cheek. How embarrassing!

"I didn't even notice," Hermione whispered, staring at his finger, shining with her tear. "I'm sorry."

He chuckled. "Don't be. Just get some sleep. You want the bed tonight?"

She shook her head "No. You stay in the bed. I'm fine."

He nodded. "Alright, but you're very welcome to the bed. 'Night, doll."

She nodded at him. "Thanks."

It didn't take long before she had fallen asleep for the umpteenth time in just that single day.

...

Yeah, I know. Pretty boring. Pretty much another "Figure out my feelings" for Sirius chapter. Oh, well. He's a man with a lot of emotions, I suppose. We already figured out Hermione. Sirius is just a different guy, he takes a little longer. ^^

See you guys!


	10. Chapter 10

Hi, guys! I would have had this done earlier, but I went to EAA today and was gone ALL DAY. I'm totally beat. Walking in really hot sun kills. But I got a poster and a t shirt. ^^

Enjoy!

...

Sirius wasn't home when Hermione woke up, but Harry and Ginny were there. She still felt tired, but smiled and warmly welcomed them anyways.

"Did Sirius make you sleep on the couch?" Ginny asked as she handed Hermine one of her pills.

Hermione shook her head. "No, I told him I'd sleep out here. I didn't want him to have to bother with me while he's sleeping."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "I hardly doubt he'd mind. Remus told me-"

Harry stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"That you'd be better after a week!" Ginny hurriedly finished, suspiciously awkward. "Yeah, so I'm sure it wouldn't really matter. You're going to be sleeping in his bed as soon as you're better, right?"

Hermione looked away. Ginny rolled her eyes. "Hermione, this has got to stop."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Ginny turned to Harry as she picked up Hermione's hair brush and rested Hermione's head just below her feet, her hair spread out on Ginny's lap. "Harry, would you mind getting us some lunch?"

"Of course, Ginny," Harry said, picking up his wand. "I can tell when I'm not wanted."

Ginny laughed. "It's nothing personal, Harry." She kissed him and he left.

"Hermione, why do you keep closing Sirius out?" Ginny asked as she began to gently stroke Hermione's hair with the brush. "All guys, for that matter?"

Hermione sighed. "It's not like I try to. I guess it's just something I do without even thinking."

"Well, it's going to get you no where in life," Ginny declared. "You should really open up a little more."

"What if I don't want to?" Hermione said stubbornly.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Come _on,_ Hermione. This is ridiculous."

"I don't think so," Hermione grumbled.

"Why?" Ginny said. "Tell me why, Hermione. Why is this sensible?"

"Because what happens when he leaves me?" Hermione said. As she continued to speak, her voice began growing louder. It used more energy, and it was really making her tired, but she didn't care. It wasn't like she had anywhere to go, and she needed to get her point across. "What happens if I do have his kid and he decides to leave me with it? And then after the war is won! What happens when we don't have to be married? What happens if I do fall in love with him, and suddenly he's free and doesn't have to be married to me, and he just leaves? Then I'll have his kid and I'll be all alone. And it'll hurt, Ginny! I know! It's happened before."

Ginny didn't reply for a moment. She just continued to calmly brush Hermione's hair, not saying anything.

Finally, she spoke. "And what if he doesn't?"

"What?" Hermione snapped. Her eyes had slid closed after the difficult exertion of explaining herself, but now they were wide, wondering at what Ginny had said to her.

"What if he doesn't leave you? What if you two end up staying together after the war?"

"Like that's really going to happen, Ginny," Hermione spat, trying not to think about how happy it might make her if what Ginny was saying was true. "Everyone knows that Sirius isn't the type to settle down. He's the kind who's just going to party as hard as he can until he dies. Like Steven Tyler! It's his favourite singer, you know. Wouldn't that make him his idol? His role model?"

Ginny grinned as she continued pulling the brush through Hermione's very tangled locks. "What if you could change that?"

"Who could?" Hermione exclaimed. "He's been like that since his Hogwarts days if what Harry's told me is true. You can't teach an old dog new tricks. And Sirius is old. Actually, he's also a dog."

Ginny laughed. "I guess you're right. But he's also a human. And even dogs settle down with age. Besides, Sirius isn't that old. I mean, he was still in Hogwarts when my mum had what? Four kids? Five? See that?"

Hermione shrugged. "I still think he's mostly dog. Have you heard him laugh? It sounds like he's barking."

Ginny laughed again. "I guess I've never paid close enough attention to notice. Hermione, really. These excuses are ridiculous. Everyone can tell you like him. And everyone knows you used to fancy him. Why should that change now? Especially when you two are living together? And I happen to know that Sirius really likes you."

Hermione didn't let herself get her hopes up. Ginny had a tendency to exaggerate things.

"And I think you two make just the cutest couple," Ginny continued. "You know. Good girl book worm and bad boy biker? It's so cute! Especially if you can tame him. That'd be like a romance story or something. Like that movie you showed me, the one based on that book..."

Hermione ignored her continuous ramblings. Now she was just repeating herself. Blah blah, you can change him, blah blah he's really a great man, blah blah, it's not that much of an age difference blah, blah, blah.

"Ginny, listen to me," Hermione said, her eyes closed. "I need sleep, and you're preventing it. And you're making me think too much, which is really wearing me out."

"I think you need to think, though!" Ginny exclaimed. "You're not the only one to go through this, you know. Harry broke up with me that one time. I was crushed."

"Ginny, he broke up with you so Voldemort wouldn't kill you," Hermione replied.

"It doesn't matter! I was still completely crushed! We loved each other, and then he was gone. That's exactly what you're describing to me. And look at us now!"

"But what if he doesn't come back?" Hermione demanded. "What then?"

"Then you be a big girl and you bloody deal with it!"

"I'm sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt...I'll just leave..."

Hermione and Ginny both jumped and turned their attention to the door, where Sirius was standing with a mysterious box in his arms.

"No!" Ginny exclaimed. "No, you don't have to leave. We were just finishing up."

She smiled kindly at Sirius, who winked. "Not talking about me, I hope," he said as he walked past them and into the kitchen, where he set the box onto the table. "Unless it's good things, of course. Then you can go ahead and talk all you want. In fact, I might just join in."

Ginny rolled her eyes and Hermione closed hers, deciding to ignore the two.

"So," Ginny said, getting off of the couch and setting down Hermione's hair brush. "What's in the box?"

"A present," Sirius replied, wiping his hands on his pants and peering into the box. "For Hermione."

At least, she thought she'd be able to ignore them. But that was sort of difficult when she was so incredibly curious as to what Sirius had gotten for her.

"It's an early birthday present," Sirius said, peering into the box. "And a get well present. I'm going to be on a mission tomorrow, and I thought he might keep you company."

"He?" Hermione said, sitting up. She was very curious by now.

Sirius grinned at her. He reached inside the box and carried something over to her, wrapped neatly in cloths. Whatever it was shivered madly inside Sirius' embrace.

Hermione could barely contain the cute overload that began when she saw the adorable little bunny.

"Oh my gosh!" She cried. "He's so adorable! Look at him, Ginny!"

Ginny was jumping around, too. For some reason, when you see a small, furry creature, the cuteness is hard to keep inside, and you have to try and find odd ways to let it out.

"Thank you, Sirius!" Hermione breathed.

He grinned and stroked the rabbit perched and twitching on Hermione's lap.

"It's not actually a bunny," Sirius said. "It's a figment. It's basically a two sided bunny. You've got this side, but if someone threatens its owner, it'll attack them."

"How can something so cute be viscious?" Ginny exclaimed, petting its head lightly.

Sirius barked a laugh, causing Ginny and Hermione to glance at each other.

"He does!" Ginny shouted, and they fell over in peals of laughter.

For the next ten minutes, Sirius glanced in between them, demanding an answer, but happy to see Hermione so happy for the first time in days.

...

Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated! ^^


	11. Chapter 11

To anonymous reader "Know-it-all"...Don't we all...sigh...

...

Hermione woke up very early the next morning. To her great pleasure, she wasn't tired. Or at least, not as tired as she had been the past few days. She stood up and stretched. Her joints cracked and she groaned. It felt so good to be off of the couch and walking around for a reason other than using the bathroom. She approached the cage of Theseus, the name of her new figment, and crouched down, smiling at the adorable ball of brown and white fluff. His nose wiggled happily and he hopped towards her, poking her face with his. Hermione squealed in delight.

"Hermione?"

Sirius swaggered out of the bedroom, shirtless, but at least he had pants on. "You're walking."

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I do that sometimes."

He laughed. "It's good to see you're feeling better. I'm sorry I can't take you out to celebrate. I've got a mission."

Hermione furrowed her brow. "Right. That's why you got me Theseus. What's the mission?"

He shuffled his feet awkwardly. "It's a secret."

She rose her eyebrows. "Is it from the Order?"

"It's from Remus..." He said, almost embarresdly.

"Well, er...good luck, then?" She said.

He grinned. "Thanks."

...

Sirius left when Hermione was in the shower, attempting to avoid any other questioning. Remus was just outside the door, leaning casually against the wall. He smirked at Sirius.

"I can't believe you're making me do this," Sirius grumbled. "It's insulting. And shouldn't you have done this before I married her?"

"It would be too suspicious," Remus replied, laughing as Sirius sulked.

"I'm still insulted!" Sirius exclaimed. "I can still get a girl pregnant, anytime, anywhere! I'm so great, I could probably get _you_ knocked up!"

Remus rolled his eyes. "Whatever. The ministry would have wanted you to do it sometime, anyways. It won't be long and Hermione will be told she has to, because you two aren't trying."

Sirius stopped dead in his tracks. "They can't test Hermione."

"Why not?" Remus asked, anxious to get going. Sirius' appointment was in ten minutes, and St. Mungo's appreciated it if you walked in instead of apparating near or inside unless it was an emergency. They had to walk most of the way.

"She's a virgin!" Sirius exclaimed. "They'll know for sure we haven't been trying and she'll be thrown in Azkaban!"

"You'll just have to change that," Remus replied.

Sirius was shocked at how forward Remus had said that. "But...she hates me."

Remus rolled her eyes again. "She doesn't hate you. She just hasn't completely warmed up to you."

"Harry says she won't ever," Sirius mumbled. "She's trying to protect herself."

"Then you'll just have to show her that she doesn't need to protect herself from you," Remus said. "Come on, Padfoot! You're Sirius Black! You won every girl at Hogwarts' heart at least once, even if they never admitted it. And everyone knows Hermione used to fancy you."

"Why is it that everyone knew this by me?" Sirius grumbled.

Remus laughed. "The one who likes the girl back never does."

Sirius stopped, shocked again. "What did you say?"

"You heard me, Sirius, we all knew you admired her as well."

"Admired!" Sirius barked. "Not _fancied!_"

Remus rolled his eyes once again.

Sirius grumbled incoherently the rest of the way to St. Mungo's.

...

Hermione spent the day with Ginny, who was ecstatic that her best friend could finally leave her house and spend time elsewhere.

They were at a quaint little coffee shop when Hermione caught sight of herself in the mirror for the first time since she'd fallen ill. She gasped and tried to hide her face in her menu.

Ginny laughed slightly. "Er, Hermione? What are you doing?"

"Ginny, why would you take me out when I look like this?" She hissed.

"Like what?" Ginny replied, moving the menu aside to scan her face. She shrugged. "You're just paler. And skinnier. And your hair is limper. And you have bags under your...Okay. I see what you mean. But you need sunlight and food and people to make it go away!"

Hermione groaned and scratched at the gauze covering the cut that remained firmly etched into the side of her neck. It must have been healing-the need to itch it was becoming somewhat unbearable.

The two chatted for a while over tea and their lunches, about Ginny and Harry's wedding, which was coming up soon, about Lupin and Tonk's new son, Teddy, who was incredibly adorable, and finally, Ginny began to pry again about Sirius.

"Please, Hermione?" Ginny begged. "I'm your best friend. Will you _please _tell me what you _really _think about him?"

Hermione sighed and put down her fork. "Honestly, I don't know that myself. I've tried to figure it out, I really have. But it's hard...I guess I just don't want to be all mopey again. I hated seeing Harry being upset because I was upset. And that was just because it was only the two of us! What if Sirius leaves me and everyone else has to endure my contagious depression?"

"But, Hermione, you're talking about this as if the only outcome is Sirius leaving you," Ginny said, taking a bite of her salad. "No one ever said he's going to leave you."

"They didn't have to," Hermione grumbled, poking at her own food with her fork. "He's never had a serious relationship in his life."

"I beg to differ," Ginny said. "My mum told me that when that girl Mary Macdonald who went to Hogwarts was attacked by current death eater Mulciber, Sirius saved her and they dated for three months."

"What ever happened to her?" Hermione asked, curious.

"She died."

Hermione choked on a piece of lettuce, and Ginny dropped her fork, giving in to peals of laughter.

"Sorry, Hermione, just kidding," Ginny said, sighing happily. "Well, she did die, but it was after they had dated. About five years after."

Hermione nodded, taking a long sip of her tea. She sighed, unhappily. "Well, see? They broke up."

"But they dated seriously for three months," Ginny said. "That's a long time for Sirius, and from what I heard, she broke up with him."

"Why?" Hermione inquired.

Ginny shrugged. "Why does anyone break up, except for if someone's cheating? It just wasn't working out. Neither of them felt anything stronger than friendship."

Hermione nodded.

Ginny sighed again, not as content as before. "Hermione, please. You need to stop this whole thing you have about keeping everyone out. I know it's not really something you can just stop, but really, they'll kill you if you don't have his child."

"Not necessarily!" Hermione exclaimed. "See, I've been doing some research, and I can make myself seem pregnant for up to three months!"

Ginny made a face. "Why in Merlin's name would anyone _want_ that?"

Hermione shrugged.

Ginny shook her head. "Hermione, the law states that you have to successfully conceive and give birth to a kid who lives to at least five years of age if it is killed by anything but natural causes. If you make it seem like you miscarried or something, then they'll still kill you."

"Then what do I do?" Hermione exclaimed.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You know what I think you have to do."

Hermione groaned dejectedly. "I'd always hoped..."

"I know it'll be tough, Hermione," Ginny said, pushing her plate away. "But I also know that you two are absolutely perfect for each other, in so many ways that it's ridiculous. Now. Come on, finish up. I'm taking you shopping."

Hermione quirked an eyebrow, but took another bite of her salad and paid for her meal.

She was a little bit nervous. Ginny never made Hermione go shopping with her unless it was to get Hermione something she really had no need for, in any way at all. Clothes, shoes, bags, she could use that.

Sexy lingerie, she couldn't.

...

Yo! I hope you liked this chapter! It's always fun to finish a chapter in a single day, but I'm on fire lately! Normally, it takes me three months to write eleven chapters of a story! I guess I just like this or something, I don't know.

Maybe it's the pairing. Pretty fun to write, I suppose. Draco and Hermione is always awesome, but I do like writing Hermione Sirius. Or maybe it's because the romance hasn't come fully into the picture yet. I tend to dawdle so I can make it as realistic as possible. No boyfriend=no experience=I have basically no idea what I'm doing.

Reviews are appreciated!


	12. Chapter 12

Ciao, i miei lettori bella!

It's my sisters birthday today and we're having a party, so I just wanted to post a quick chapter cuz I won't be able to get to it when everyone gets here. That's why it's so short. ^^

Disclaimer and enjoy!

...

One thing Hermione noticed upon appraising the entire flat since the first time since she had arrived was that it was rather small. Apart from the rooms she'd seen-the kitchen, the living room, and the bathroom-there was one other room-the bedroom.

The second thing she noticed was that the bed was rather small, and they would be trading off for the bed. There was no way that they could sleep in this bed without accidentally slapping each other in the face, which was possible, considering Hermione's violent sleeping habits.

The third thing was the dresser and the closet, which would have to be shared by the two of them. Some kind soul-hopefully Ginny-had already filled the closet with her clothes, on the left, Sirius' on the right. Her undergarments and socks and other such things were in a drawer on the left side of the dresser, just as Sirius' own were in the drawer on the right side.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief at seeing the handle to the drawer was coated in a very light layer of dust. No fingerprints. It hadn't been opened recently.

Unless by magic.

Hermione quickly ripped the drawer opened, only to find that Ginny's annoying way of folding undergarments was still fully intact, and Sirius hadn't, as she had suspected, gone through her things.

But he could any time he felt, as he had the bedroom filled with her things. Which was why she was cautious about putting the new, lacy...things...Ginny had bought her in the drawer with her normal things.

She decided on keeping them in the back of the drawer. Out of sight, out of mind.

And the reason for them being purchased entailed a situation Hermione definitely wanted out of her mind.

Sirius returned home from his "mission" in a particularily good mood. Apparently, the mission had been "accomplished in a positive manner." Whatever the heck _that_ meant.

"Well, I think that you being all healthy again and I being in such a good mood, we should go celebrate," Sirius said happily. "Remus invited us to Number 12 for supper with him, Tonks, Harry, Ginny, the Weasleys, and, you know, the rest."

Hermione grinned. "Sure, I suppose. I'm just going to go wash up and change, then."

Sirius nodded, smiling as he watched her enter the bathroom. The shower started up a moment later, and he lumbered into the bedroom, lying down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. He'd told Remus it was completely unnecessary. Who would even consider the possibility that Sirius Black couldn't knock a girl up? He was amazing at everything-why not that?

The tests had been very invasive. The doctor definitely owed him a date after touching him like that.

Sirius chuckled at his own joke, but it got him to thinking.

He probably owed his wife a date for being so hard on her the night before she'd gotten sick. Heck, he owed her a date just for having to put up with him.

And it was the perfect opportunity to begin mission "Chip Away the Stone." He just had to break down that wall and Hermione would learn to love him. Then they could be together, Hermione could have his child, and they would be happy.

And Sirius would certainly be less confused than he was at the current time.

It had never taken this long to woo a girl before. Was this how long it took to get the attention of a _smart _girl? One with a brain beneath their hair, one that actually had a thought in her head, one that realised that protesting was good sometimes?

Mary had been so long ago, that he just couldn't remember. But life or death situations tended to push people together, so that's probably what won Mary.

After her fear faded away, that was probably why she'd ever left him.

Sirius had been staring blankly at the ceiling with hardly a thought in his head besides the girl he had married for several minutes, when the sound of running water was abruptly cut off, and a new sound replaced it. He listened carefully. The shower curtain made a swishing sound as it was yanked to the side. There was hardly a whisper until her damp foot stepped out onto the floor in the bathroom, making a small _splat_ noise. Next she padded across the floor and suddenly stopped short, as if to think.

She tentatively entered the bedroom a few moments later, wearing nothing but a towel.

Sirius couldn't help but allow his eyes to linger on her a little longer than necessary, but he looked away to give her the proper privacy. He sat up and turned away so he was looking at the wall. "Go ahead," he said. "I won't look."

"Thanks," she said awkwardly. He heard her rifle through the closet and the drawers for a few moments, and then the sounds of clothing rushing over her skin.

He found himself having to force himself not to give in to the temptation of turning to watch.

"Okay," she said a few moments later.

Sirius turned to see her in the clothes she'd been wearing that day outside of the bar, after she'd ran off. She looked very pretty in it.

She wasn't looking at him. She was trying to do something with that mad hair of hers, apparently trying to decide whether or not she should put it up or keep it down.

She eventually gave up with a resigned sigh, drying it with her wand and leaving it hanging.

After the shower and being out and about during the day, her cheeks had some more colour, her hair was shinier. She would have looked tons healthier if it weren't for the gauze still taped firmly to her neck.

Sirius motioned to it. "Does it hurt?"

Her hand automatically reached up to touch it, and she made a disgusted sort of face as she thoughtfully fingered the bandage. "Not really. It's just irritating, the itch. It's healing, finally, I think."

Sirius grinned at her. "Good to hear. You ready to go, then?"

She nodded and smiled back softly, then turned to search for her bag, and they apparated to Remus' dinner party.


	13. Chapter 13

Meh, not a great chapter. But it's midnight. Cut me some slack.

...

The dinner party stretched on a little later than necessary, but Hermione didn't mind. It was nice to see everyone again. They asked about her honeymoon with Sirius, about her illness about how her wound was healing. And they just talked and laughed and had a good time.

Hermione was sitting with Ginny in the sitting room with a glass of wine, the others either outside or the with the several men at the bar behind them.

They were in the middle of a conversation about wedding plans when Ginny happened to look behind Hermione, whose back was facing the bar. "Someone can't seem to take their eyes off of you," she commented before sipping her wine.

Hermione discreetly glanced over to see Sirius in the process of looking away from her direction, laughing at something Remus had said. Harry laughed too, and Ron said something obnoxious, causing more laughter.

Hermione's eyes darted back to Ginny's.

"I didn't see anyone looking at me," she said stubbornly, scratching at her neck.

Ginny rolled her eyes as she reached down to adjust the anklet around her ankle. "Yeah, right, Hermione." She smirked. "You wearing your new things?"

Hermione blushed. "Whatever, Ginny."

"Are you?" She prodded.

Hermione looked away. "Yes."

"Ha!" Ginny exclaimed. "I knew it! Which one?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "The white ones."

"Oh my gosh!" Ginny exclaimed. "I'm wearing the same ones!" She lowered the waist band of her skirt to prove it, causing whistles to erupt from the other side of the room.

Ginny grinned at the men and returned the waistband to the correct place, and the men laughed.

"Your turn, Hermione!" Sirius shouted, causing more laughter from the tipsy men.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I don't think so, Sirius."

"Come on, give us a show!"

Hermione stood up. "The only show you get is of my back, leaving."

They all laughed as Hermine left the room with her now empty wine glass, in search of more. Harry came in not long after. He leaned against the counter as she poured another glass.

"Want one?" Hermione asked, reaching automatically to grab another glass.

Harry grabbed her hand to stop her. "No, Hermione, I wanted to talk to you."

Hermione paused in the journey of bringing her wine glass to her lips. "Sure," she said, smiling softly. "What do you need?"

Harry sighed. "I think that Sirius might be...falling in love with you."

Hermione froze once again, slowly lowering her glass. "What do you mean?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "'Mione," he drawled. "How many ways could I possible translate that last sentence?"

Hermione didn't answer. Harry seemed a tad bit...drunk. Drunk Harry was sarcastic and straight-forward, and kind of stupid, as all drunken people were.

But the straight-forward part worried her, because Harry never lied, not even when he was intoxicated.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione said, successfully taking a sip from her wine.

Harry sat down on a chair, nearly missing and throwing out his arms to balance himself. "Maybe not," Harry said. "You are pretty clueless when it comes to men, aren't you?"

Hermione snorted. "Harry, you've been talking to Ginny too much."

"You love him, too."

Hermione stopped short once more. She sighed-she wasn't going to get to this drink. She dumped the remains into the sink and turned to look at Harry.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she repeated coldly.

"He keeps looking at you," Harry said, twiddling with the hem of his tshirt. He was like a little kid when he drank. "Can't hardly get a word out of him for all the staring and things he has to say about you."

Hermione didn't know how to reply.

"Maybe you're right."

Harry looked up, Hermione's statement shocking him into near sobriety. "What?"

Hermione sighed and sat down, then looked away, laughing softly.

"Ginny bought me new lingerie today," she said quietly. She looked at Harry. "How is it that everyone else could tell I'm starting to..." She couldn't say it. She wasn't sure if she was admitting this or not. "Before I can?"

Harry grinned at her. "It's because you're as easy to read as those books you're so fond of."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry?"

Harry noticed the tears in her eyes and tried to push the cloud of intoxication from his brain so he could be comforting.

Harry held out his arms and Hermione settled on his lap, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Harry, you're my best friend," Hermione said, hating that the tears showed in her voice.

Harry laughed quietly. "You're mine."

"Harry, I don't want to get hurt."

Harry could barely hear the whisper, but he rested his chin against her head and stroked her hair. "I know, Hermione. But sometimes...you've just got to take chances. I had to think about losing an great friend when I chose to go after Ginny...you even took the risk with Ron...but everything worked out in the end."

"I never got over it, Harry," Hermione whispered. "I still kept pushing him away."

"I know."

Hermione started to cry. "I don't know what to do."

Harry sighed. "I know. But Hermione, Sirius knows not to hurt you. He knows that he can't...and he knows how bad I can hurt him back if he does hurt you."

Hermione smiled and tried to laugh. She pulled back and wiped at her eyes. "Thanks, Harry." She stood. "Merlin, I'm so sorry. I have no idea why I just started..." She laughed, feeling stupid. "Why I started crying."

Harry stood and patted her arm. "You'll be okay, Hermione. I promise."

Harry was right and she knew it. Sirius was being nothing but nice to her. He was giving her presents and trying to keep her safe and happy. She had no reason to deny that Harry thought he might love her.

She smiled at him one last time before she returned to the living room. As Hermione walked towards Ginny, she felt Sirius' eyes on her. She glanced at him quickly and was surprised to find that he didn't look as drunk as he was acting.

"Mione, you okay?" Ginny asked, taking Hermione's wet eyes in with a skeptical eye.

Hermione nodded as she picked up her hand bag, sliding it under her arm. She smiled at Ginny. "I think I'm going to head home."

"Merlin, Hermione, what did Harry _say?"_

Hermione's face screwed up in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Ginny shook her head. "I don't know but you just look so...conflicted."

Hermione shrugged. "I'm fine. I'll see you soon, okay?"

She gave everyone one last hug before she and Sirius apparated back to their flat.

Hermione changed into her pyjamas and tentatively stepped into the bedroom. Sirius was stretched out on the bed, shirtless, quietly reading an old muggle western book. He glanced up at her when she entered and grinned at her.

She smiled back slightly. "Hi..."

"Hey," he said, closing his book and setting it on the bedside table.

"Er...do you mind if I..." She took a deep breath. "Can I sleep in here tonight?"

Sirius grinned. "Of course, no one's stopping you. Certainly not me."

Hermione crept forward slowly.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Come on. I don't bite that hard."

Hermione giggled nervously and climbed onto the bed beside him. "I hope you don't mind."

Sirius made a face. "Of course not. I'm glad you decided to sleep in here at all. I didn't think it would happen."

"Right," Hermione replied softly, getting beneath the comforter. But now that she was there, she had no idea why she had decided not to sleep on the perfectly fine couch out in the living room.

It was Harry's voice that was doing it.

_You'll be okay, Hermione. I promise._

She hoped with all of her heart that he was correct as she leaned forward and gently kissed Sirius on the cheek. She bit her lip. "Goodnight, Sirius," she whispered softly.

Sirius was so shocked by her intimate gesture that it took a good twenty seconds before he was able to react.

His reaction was nothing like Hermione had expected.

He was hovering over her, his eyes wild, pinning her wrists to the pillow on either side of her head.

"Hermione..." He whispered.

There was something animalistic in his eyes.

"Hermione, I'm not good for you," he blurted.

"What?" She whispered.

"I'm not good for you," he repeated breathlessly. "I want you to know that before you do anything you might regret. Hermione, I'm too old for you, I smoke _a lot, _I haven't had a serious relationship in seven years, it's been far too long since I've had morals, and I don't know if I'll be able to always control myself."

He was panting with his violent confessions, and Hermione was just confused. She couldn't even think of a proper reply.

"Hermione..."

He leaned forward and gently kissed her on the lips. Hermione's eyes fluttered open after a few seconds, and she pulled him down towards her, reaching him halfway, kissing him just a bit deeper than he had her, completely unsure of her actions.

All she knew is that when he had kissed her, she'd felt something so much stronger than anything she'd ever felt with Ron, and it scared her beyond the point of coherant thoughts.

Sirius pulled back. "Hermione, I need to clear this up now. I'm not Ron. I'm a full-grown man. And I'm polite enough to ask. How far will we go tonight?"

Hermione breathed out quickly at his implications. She didn't know what to do. She was still so confused!

Unexpectedly, she began to cry.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "Sorry, sorry, sorry!"

Sirius looked down at her, horrified. "Hermione!" He lifted her to his chest and sat with her on his lap, rocking her back and forth.

"I'm sorry!" She cried. "I'm so confused...I'm not ready..."

Sirius kissed the top of her head. "I know, doll. I know. I shouldn't have even suggested...Merlin, I can be so stupid sometimes!"

Hermione shook her head. "It's my fault. I can't seem to sort anything out anymore. I'm going to sleep. I'm so sorry."

Sirius nodded dejectedly and let her get back beneath the blankets. He kissed her cheek lightly. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "Soon," she whispered.

Sirius quirked an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Soon," Hermione repeated. "We have to start soon."

Sirius knew exactly what she meant.

He nodded, smiling at her fondly. "As you wish."

Sirius lay awake that night. How on earth did she expect him to sleep after such an eventful night? And with the consent that soon, he would be taking her virginity? It was enough to keep a man awake with thoughts they knew they shouldn't be having about girls seventeen years younger than than them.

It was enough to keep him awake, struggling to not give in to his temptation and take her right then and there.

...

As I said, no boyfriend, no experience. And I'm trying to make this realistic!

But I already promised one of my reviewers something juicy coming up soon, and I never break my promises! ;) Hey, at least they kissed and Hermione said something would happen! It's not my fault she's a confused little girl!

Oh, and sorry if this seems distant. I'm also roleplaying at the moment. I'm a pirate named Roddy Black, who tricked a guy into helping me break a curse that turns me into a dog every night. ^^

I know, I'm creative.


	14. Chapter 14

Hermione's eyes hurt the next morning. They were dry, and when she squinted in the light from the lamp on her bedside table, they burned in the back and she had to close them and cover her face with her blanket.

"Hermione! You're awake finally!"

Hermione was thrown into the air as Sirius launched himself into the air and landed hard on the bed. She squeaked and landed on the other side of her body, now facing Sirius. She glared at him.

"Why are the lights on?" She growled at him.

He laughed. "The lights aren't on. That's the sun, silly."

She opened her eyes further and found that he was correct. She buried herself deeper beneath the blankets, unwilling to remove herself from its comfort. "What time is it?"

"It's almost noon," Sirius replied. "Which is why I was so surprised to find you still asleep! You always woke up at six back at number 12. What gives?"

Hermione shrugged, closing her eyes again. "I'm still tired from being sick, I think. From the potion they gave me."

Sirius nodded. "Well, okay. I made you lunch as soon as you're ready to get up."

She was surprised. That was shockingly nice after her rejection the night before. "Thank you," she mumbled against her pillow.

"Anytime, doll," he said before he left.

Hermione left her bed about a half an hour later and immediately crawled into the shower, hoping to wash the tears off of her face and maybe wake herself up a little bit.

While she was in there, she remembered just what had happened the night before, and froze, mid way through massaging shampoo into her hair. She sunk to the floor of the bathtub, eyes wide as she thought of her sleepy consent from the night before.

"I told him we'd have sex soon!" She exclaimed, a bit too loudly, but she really didn't think on that too much. Nothing she said out loud could surprise Sirius anymore, could it?

What had she been thinking?

Well, one thing she was thinking now-admitting that to him made her a bit less confused about her feelings towards him. She loved him, like a friend. At least she knew she loved him now, and even fancied him a bit, despite everything she'd been doing to protect her heart from carelessly falling for people.

Shaking her head, she summoned her Gryffindor courage and stood up, quickly finishing her shower. She brushed her teeth and towel dried her hair before she entered the empty bedroom and got dressed.

"There she is!" Sirius exclaimed as she entered the room. She offered him a cheerful smile. Probably too cheerful, but at least it was a smile, and it couldn't be noticed that it was forced. He set down the Daily Prophet to flash her a grin.

"Your lunch is on the counter," he told her.

She grinned upon the sight of it. It was a cheese sandwich and a bowl of lettuce and onions. She rolled her eyes.

"Looks delicious," she said as she sat down at the table. It wasn't so bad, she realised upon eating it, but she'd have to brush her teeth again after all of the onion.

"Well, thank you," he replied, watching her eat. "Now, I was wondering something..."

She looked up from her lunch, worried about what he might have been thinking about. If it had been about what she was thinking in the shower...

"Would you like to go out with me tonight?" Sirius asked her confidently. "We could go to a fancy restaurant or something."

She smiled. "You don't have to take me out if you don't want to."

He shrugged, taking a drink of his coffee. "Who wouldn't want to take you out?"

Hermione blushed. "Okay. But you don't have to spend that much on me. We could just go catch a movie or something."

Sirius laughed. "You do realise that I'm a Black and therefore have more money than most average wizarding families, even during the war and after I ran away, right?"

Hermione shrugged. "I know."

He appraised her for a moment. "Okay, we won't go anywhere too fancy. How about we go and see a play somewhere? Or we could just go see a concert or something."

"A concert?" She asked.

"Sure!" He exclaimed. "I'm sure there's someone playing somewhere tonight. Of course, most of the people I would like to see are either dead, in prison, not touring anymore, or completely and ridiculously sold out, but who would you like to see?"

Hermione shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. I don't know many wizard bands."

Sirius grinned. "How about we see Cauldron? They're a bluesy rockish metal band. We could see them!"

Hermione smiled at how enthusiastic he was. "Sure," she replied softly. "I'd like that."

"Great!" He seemed really excited about this.

Butterflies ravaged her stomach at how happy he seemed at just the thought of going to a concert. She'd heard him talk about previous concerts he'd been to to Harry and Remus, and he always told them what a wonderful time he'd had. He said he really loved music, and meeting people there was great. And just going to a concert with someone was an amazing memory to have.

Hermione brushed her teeth after all of the onion burning in her throat and changed into something appropriate for going out in public, discarding her yoga shorts and tank-top for a skirt and a tshirt. She spent the day reading and writing to Ginny.

She pulled out her journal after a while. It was a great thing to have a journal, she thought. It was easy to sift through your thoughts that way, and you'd be far less confused on different things going on in your life. She had it magically locked and had it so it would take the form of complicated gibberish if anyone else were to look at it. She knew that just these wards were complicated enough to discourage anyone from furthering their search through the little leatherbound book, but just to be sure, she kept a special lock she'd found when lost one day in Knockturn alley that required a simple password from her, and the blood of anyone else to allow it to open at all. She always thought that would be enough to keep them out.

She wrote for several hours, her hand cramping by the time she was finished, but her mind completely settled. She knew now that she fancied Sirius, and that they could possibly go further in their relationship. She just needed to prove that she had a reason to trust him completely before she did anything with him that would crush her later.

Sirius had been watching her write for several minutes, captivated in watching how intent she was as she wrote, the different emotions crossing her face, and how, buy the end, the conflicted look in her eyes that had appeared the night before had vanished nearly completely.

Finally, he realised the time, and that he should be leaving soon. He smiled softly as he approached her. Just in time, too, as she closed her journal and stared blankly in front of herself for a moment.

"Hermione?"

She looked to him and smiled lightly, standing from the couch. "Time to go?"

He nodded and after Hermione grabbed her handbag, they apparated to the building the concert would be heald in. Even Hermione had heard of Cauldron-they were known as the Band of the Wizarding World, entailing that they were amazing, and that Sirius and Hermione would be in for a good show. Sirius already knew-he'd seen them four times.

The concert was held in the biggest Quidditch pitch in the world, hidden in a forest in Ireland.

He and Hermione hadn't been there long when people began recognising Sirius. He had a lot of friends, that was for sure.

He laughed as he warmly greeted them. "Hermione, this is my friend Hamilton."

Hamilton grinned at her and held out his existing arm. "Call me No-Arm. So, Black! Is this that pretty little wife of yours you were telling me about?"

Remus had already discussed this with them-they needed to give off the allusion that they were in love and that was why they married. Even to their friends. If they were outside of the Order, then they couldn't be trusted.

Remembering this, Sirius wrapped an arm around Hermione and pulled him to her side. Hermione couldn't help the butterflies that erupted in her stomach at being close to him, feeling him up against her side, taking in his smell, the sound of him talking rumbling against her ear. He laughed. "This is my Mione!" He told "No-Arm." "Isn't she the prettiest little witch you ever did meet?"

No-Arm laughed and nodded his head. "Can't argue with that. Hey, didn't I see you in the Prophet? On more than one occassion!"

Hermione tried to smile and nodded at him. "Probably all of my pictures with Harry."

"Well, I'll be darned!" No-Arm exclaimed. "Sirius Black, you married the girl who helped save the world!"

Hermione tried to be modest, but it was difficult when everyone around her heard him and starting lavishing her with compliments.

Her only break was when the concert started up, lights flashing all around them as the lead singer jumped onto the stage with his guitar, playing loud and proud. He was good and he knew it.

The concert was like nothing Hermione had ever seen, and she was excited beyond belief as she listened to the lyrics and cheered with the rest of the crowd.

And then they began with their ballads, and soon, every couple around them were kissing and touching and holding each other.

Through the concert, Sirius' arm hadn't left her shoulder, not that she'd wanted it to, but now she was starting to feel a bit awkward at the implications of the songs that had began.

"Give it up for newly weds Sirius and Hermione Black!"

Hermione's eyes nearly bugged out of her head and she had to shake it to figure out if what the singer had just exclaimed had been real or not. Of course everyone knew about her marriage to Sirius-they were both extrememly famous, even if they were trying to escape that fame by now (at least, she was). There had even been an article about it in the Prophet. War Hero and Ex-convict/Harry Potter's godfather and best friend, together? How odd.

But Hermione really hadn't expected so much excitement over it. She realised that her mind had taken everything down a few notches when she saw herself and Sirius up on a big screen in front of thousands of people.

"Kiss her already!" The singer yelled before they launched into another song.

They couldn't _not _kiss now. That would bring up suspicions they did not need so early in their "mission." And they'd done it before-why not now?

Sirius didn't allow for any more hesitation. He pulled her face to his and kissed her passionately, eliciting screams and cheers from the Cauldron fans around them.

Sirius held on, kissing her for a little longer than necessary. They were off the screen by now, and the song was nearly over, but he wasn't finished.

By the end of the concert, Hermione's hair was messy and she was lightheaded.

She had the feeling that she'd be like this if any other public outtings happened to take place in the coming weeks, and she prepared herself for it.

No matter how right it had felt, Hermione just wasn't ready, and Sirius knew it.

But that didn't mean he wouldn't stop, chipping away day and night, until he finally got what he wanted.

And what he wanted, was his wife, Hermione Granger.

...

Yeah...

Not much comment...

I'm kind of tired and can't tell if this chapter is completely weird or okay...

It's 1:30. -_- Cut me some slack.


	15. Chapter 15

Hi! This would have gone up earlier but I'm babysitting and the demon handcuffed me to a chair. AND LEFT ME THERE. Thank goodness my wrists are so skinny and I could jangle them around until I could reach the lock. :/

And then it took me hours to just upload the file because the server keeps timing out! But just for fanfiction! Is anyone else having severe problems with Fanfiction?

Anyways, I enjoyed writing this, despite my pain!

...

They returned home at one, having stopped in a muggle fast food place to get something to eat. When they apparated into their flat, Hermione had absolutely no idea what to say to Sirius.

"Er...thank you," she began. It sounded like a good start. "For everything."

He winked. "Not a problem, doll. You look really pale. You alright?"

Hermione nodded and returned to the bedroom. She scratched at her neck as she realised she couldn't think of a reason why she might look pale. She wasn't tired at all, the excitement of the night refusing to leave her body. But when she removed her hand from scratching at her neck, she found her fingers sticky with blood.

She tried to calm down and she cleared her dry throat. "Sirius?" She said, her voice shaking even as she tried to keep it calm. She tried again, this time louder, but her throat was so hoarse with fear that it was amazing he'd heard her this time.

"Sirius!" She cried.

He was in the room within seconds of her shrill yell.

"What's the matter?" He exclaimed upon seeing her frightened expression.

She swept aside her hair so that he could see the blood dripping down her neck through the gauze covering the cut and staining her t-shirt.

His eyes grew wide and wild. "What happened?" He exclaimed.

"I don't know!" She replied worriedly. "It must have been bleeding for some time now, though... Help me! Please!"

Sirius stood frozen, more afraid now than when he'd found her coughing up her own blood.

Sirius helped her off of the bed. "Can you walk?"

She tried, but her legs started to shake and she fell into his chest. "I'm too scared," she whispered.

He nodded and apparated her to St. Mungo's for the third time in a month.

...

"We're not sure why it refuses to heal," said the same blonde healer from the last time. "But this time we tested even harder, and we think that the liquid we removed from her veins may have some lingering consequences."

"I thought you said you got it all out," Sirius said, watching as they tried out muggle stitches, because no magic seemed able to hold the skin together, and replaced the bandages.

"We did," she said slowly. "But the effects it had on her body are still there."

"What about those little black things, could it be them?" Sirius asked, looking up at her from his chair.

She seemed to think about that for a moment. "It's possible. We've still got people testing on them, but so far, they're relatively harmless. We're not positive about anything because we haven't seen it in so long."

"Is it linked to the last time she was here?" Sirius asked, looking back at Hermione.

Again, she thought a moment. "Tests. We were doing tests on her blood samples. I think that the substance we found in her blood may be linked, yes."

Sirius wondered why she couldn't just come out and say it. This woman really aggravated him, from her constant flirting to her apparent uncaringness towards his wife.

"Right," he said.

"She should still be taking those pills to clean her blood and to make sure that what happened last time doesn't happen again," the healer went on. "We're not sure it will completely help since we don't exactly know exactly what's wrong yet, but it's a general cleaning and healing pill."

Sirius nodded as Hermione stood and thanked the healer that had stitched her, smiling warmly at him as she wiped a few tears from her eyes. She turned and smiled at Sirius, who grinned as well and took her home.

"I'm beat," Hermione sighed as they got back and she changed into a new pair of pajamas.

Sirius couldn't help but chance a look back at her when she was almost finished. He caught a glimpse of her smooth back, a single beauty mark by her left shoulder the only blemish in sight.

"Yeah," Sirius said distractedly. She glanced at him over her shoulder and saw he was looking away from her, causing her to blush as she quickly pulled her shirt over her head and got onto the bed.

She smiled at him. "Thanks for taking me to St. Mungo's," she said softly.

He threw an arm around her shoulder, gently, of course, and they leaned back into the pillows. "No problem, doll. Wasn't going to leave you. Don't want my precious doll getting hurt."

She smiled, not entirely opposed to falling asleep so close to him, resting her head against his chest. She shifted slightly so she could lean her head back and kiss his jaw to thank him, and because she couldn't reach his cheek from this position.

He made a groaning sound. It surprised Hermione.

"Do you know that you torture me?" He whispered huskily.

Hermione was now shocked. "Wait, what?"

"You're so sexy and you don't even know it," Sirius said, meaning it and at the same time knowing that it would move things along. He had thousands of lines planned for pushing their relationship forward.

She looked at him curiously, then narrowed her eyes.

"Are you just saying that?" She asked him.

No fooling the brightest witch of her age,

Sirius thought.

He chuckled. "See, there's the proof. You can't even accept the truth."

She still appraised him carefully, though.

He laughed. He was in such a good mood that he couldn't help anything anymore. "See, here's the thing. I can't be around you without getting those silly little flips in my belly, and Sirius Black doesn't get butterflies."

Hermione stared at him, jaw now dropped, speechless.

"And I don't know how you feel about me," Sirius continued, squeezing her closer slightly as he pushed on. "Sirius Black does not do well with not knowing things."

Hermione couldn't find the words to answer. Finally, she swallowed hard, going to attempt to answer, but he pressed on.

"I haven't felt this way about anyone in probably twenty years. It's a pretty odd feeling to have, this. You're a very pretty girl, and you're so smart and witty and funny and stubborn that I just can't help it."

He almost sounds drunk

, Hermione noted. He doesn't usually talk this freely. What is going on? The thoughts in her head continued to churn as he kept talking.

I think it's working,

Sirius thought to himself. He was only speaking the truth, but it was really helping his situation. One feeling he hadn't mentioned to her yet was how awkward this was, to be telling her all of these things. It wasn't him. Sirius Black didn't do well with speaking what he felt. Not that he felt things like this too often.

"I've found I've enjoyed this past week of being married to you," he said. "Even the fighting wasn't that bad. I still like being around you. And when we aren't fighting, I've been happier than I have been in a long time. And taking care of you was such a nice feeling."

He didn't say anything for a long time, allowing what he'd said to sink in. It was a lot to think about, but he'd thought out everything he'd wanted to say when they were in that blasted hospital.

It was the worst feeling in the world when she didn't reply. It felt kind of like rejection, something Sirius wasn't used to, but also didn't feel that way because he knew he hadn't been rejected just yet. It was the anticipation for her answer that was doing this to him.

"I don't really know what to say," she said finally. "I've noticed you're not that unbearable, either, and that...I've grown used to having you around in just this short amount of time. I think that little crush I had when I was younger came back, too," she admitted, blushing slightly.

Sirius laughed happily. "That's great! I was afraid that I'd just made our situation way worse than it already was."

Hermione giggled. "No, it's okay...because I feel the same way. I'm still..."

He looked down at her. She had a little crease in her forehead as she thought. Sirius lightly smoothed it out with two fingers.

Hermione sighed. "Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have even kissed you yet. But this is different. You know I've always been one to get things done early, and I've been nervous about certain things about this law..."

Sirius' eyes darkened noticeably as he looked her over.

"O-oh, yeah?" He said hoarsely.

She nodded. He noticed how she wouldn't look at him, and the blush that was creeping across her face.

She finally sighed. "Soon. Maybe next week...but we need to start...to start..."

"Dancing?" He offered, chuckling as her blush deepened. "Doll, it's okay if you're not ready. I know how it is. I've talked to plenty of girls about how nervous they were their first time. Especially when it was with me."

Hermione didn't answer. She was just cursing herself for bringing upon this awfully embarrassing moment.

"But we-we need-"

"I know what the law says, but we still have six months," Sirius replied.

"We should at least..." She couldn't believe she was saying this. "...get to know each other better."

His eyes lit up at the thought. "You mean..."

How could she put this. "Everything but all the way?"

He chuckled. "Sure, Hermione. I would love to."

"Good," she whispered, sighing out a breath of relief.

Disaster averted.

...

Hello! My wrists are free and I am posting this with much caution.

Okay, bye for now. ^^

Let the reviews of excitement come. I'm not scared.

Not even of the ones demanding a sex scene and wondering why it hasn't happened yet.

(Which I won't write out, of course. You know, not really my thang... Sorry. Kissing is all I can write...)

K bye for real this time!


	16. Chapter 16

I wrote this during the commercials of an amazing episode of What's New Scooby Doo, in which they go to Wisconsin! Do people not from Wisconsin really think we eat that much cheese? Cuz I do...but that doesn't mean other people do!

...

The next morning, Hermione woke up tangled in the arms of one Sirius Black. She probably would have gotten up-she was feeling a bit awkward after the night before-but Sirius Black had the heaviest limbs of anyone she had ever met. Plus, she was very comfortable, and very tired from the concert and the trip to the hospital the night before.

She was dead set on staying out of the hospital until she needed her stitches removed again.

Sirius started muttering in his sleep, and tightened his grip on Hermione. The pounding of his heart was like a lullaby, and Hermione soon found herself asleep once more.

Sirius shifted and blinked, slowly coming to grips with the new day. It was a few moments before he realised why he was so warm, and what the pressure on his chest was. He looked down to find Hermione's mad curls fanned across his chest. Her eyes were closed, and there was a small smile on her lips as she slept.

Before he could stop himself, or even realise what he was doing, a happy smile spread across his lips. He stroked her hair back from her face and touched her face again. Her skin was impossibly soft, it felt so nice against his rough, calloused fingers.

She really was beautiful.

She wasn't sleeping very deeply, and was making small sounds in her sleep, sounds that Sirius could almost translate as words, but were too muffled against his bare chest.

He grinned. He was on his way to having her as his. There was still something in between them, he noticed, but it was so small, something he could break.

Sirius glanced around before he found Hermione's little muggle alarm clock on the bedside table. He laughed out loud. They'd slept until noon.

There was a sound in the living room, sort of like a groan, and then a figure stood in the doorway to Sirius and Hermione's bedroom.

Remus was grinning from ear to ear.

Sirius laughed again. "What are you doing here, mate?"

"I've been here since around eight o'clock to see how you two were doing, but I guess you're doing alright now," he exclaimed. "I thought you two'd died."

Sirius rubbed the back of his neck, still smiling slightly. "Well, she was pretty close last night."

Remus' eyes widened in alarm. "Did something happen? Those Cauldron concerts can get pretty crazy."

Sirius grinned. "No, it wasn't at the concert," he said, remembering their encounter on the big screen. "It was when we got back. Her neck injury opened again. They had to give her stitches."

"Would you mind coming out to the kitchen with me?" Remus asked instead of replying. "Let's let Hermione sleep."

Sirius nodded and tried to gently set Hermione on the bed without waking her.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Meet me in the kitchen when you find pants."

Sirius laughed and searched around for a clean pair of trousers before he made his way out to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee. To his surprise, Tonks was sitting at the table with a broken mug-that hadn't been broken before-filled with steaming coffee.

"Good afternoon, Sirius!" She grinned and held out the mug.

Sirius grinned and patted her hair, which she changed to match his exactly. He laughed. "Where's the other piece of this mug, kid?"

She blushed and shrugged.

Remus sat down next to Tonks, who immediately shifted her position to be closer to Remus.

Sirius chuckled, rolling his eyes as he took a sip. "So, what brings you two here?"

"Just wondering if you two maybe wanted to go out together," Remus replied. "I heard some blokes at the ministry talking about how you and Hermione's marriage isn't very believable. They said they're just waiting for a slip up so they can marry Hermione for themselves."

Sirius found himself growing angry with what Remus was telling him. "They have no right! Everyone at the Cauldron concert last night hasn't a doubt in their mind-"

"What happened at the Cauldron concert?" Remus inquired.

"You saw Cauldron?" Tonks exclaimed, nearly knocking Sirius' mug from his hand in her excitement. "Oh my gosh! You're so lucky! Did they play their newest song...what's it called? Oh yeah, did they play that song "Yeah Huh"?"

Sirius nodded vigorously.

"That's so cool!" Tonks cried. "Joe Tallarico has the most amazing vocals!"

"I know!" Sirius said, equally as excited. "And William Hudson has the greatest guitar solo known to man kind!"

"What the heck happened at the Cauldron concert?" Remus exploded.

"Tallarico made us kiss."

They all watched Hermione enter the room, smiling lightly and accepting the coffee Tonks dazedly handed her.

Finally, Tonks broke the incredibly awkward silence. "You're so lucky!" She shrieked. "You got to kiss on the big screen! Wow..." She sighed.

Hermione laughed good naturdley, in a strangely good mood.

The group chatted for a while, before the subject of a double date came up. It soon turned into a triple date when Hermione recieved an owl from Harry, inquiring on whether or not she wished to spend the afternoon with him and Ginny.

Hermione showered and dressed quickly, as did Sirius, and they all met in the same little cafe Hermione and Ginny frequented.

They were very much aware of the reporters from several magazines and papers sitting around the cafe, waiting with bated breath to prove Sirius and Hermione's marriage to be false.

Sirius was the first to notice. To anyone else, it would look like he had unconsciously wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulder, pulling her close, but he was trying everything he knew to convince the reporters.

Hermione noticed the reporters as soon as they had entered, but had thought nothing of it, as Remus hadn't told her of the thoughts of those at the ministry who were hoping she and Sirius' marriage would be proved wrong so they could marry her themselves.

But when Sirius began pulling her closer against his side, she realised that they might have been there for she and him, and tried to play along. The surprised look she'd originally had disappeared, and she changed it to one that she hoped appeared as bliss.

The others had discovered the reporters and their reasons for being there from the start, so they tried to keep from reacting at the couple's display of affection.

Sirius lowered his head and nuzzled her neck, eliciting a small gasp from Hermione. She wasn't used to anyone being this affectionate towards her. Ron had been just as new to the dating for real thing as she had been, but Sirius really knew what he was doing. He'd had plenty of practice, after all.

Hermione noticed the unmistakable flash of a camera bulb out of the corner of her eye, but ignored it and shifted to be closer to Sirius, taking the hand not around her shoulder in her own. He entwined his fingers with her own rather smooth ones, all the while keeping up his conversation with Harry and Remus.

Ginny was trying not to laugh at discovering that Hermione and Sirius had had a nice snog at the concert the night before, and even more at watching Hermione trying to deal with Sirius fawning all over her.

"Oh, let me get that for you, doll."

Hermione was too shocked to protest as Sirius took her fork and knife from her hands and began to cut the chicken in her salad into bite-sized pieces. He winked at her. "Can't have you choking with those stitches."

She felt a smile stretch across her face. She seemed to be really smiling a lot lately. If felt nice to not force a smile; it felt good to be carefree.

Even if she wasn't entirely carefree, she felt she could be, all wrapped up beside Sirius, who was now trailing kisses from her ear to her shoulder. It felt so new, but it didn't feel bad.

The only part she didn't like was her inability to stop blushing or gasping. Sirius seemed to take note of every little gasp, every deepening of the colour in her cheeks, as did Ginny, who was planning on pointing this out if Hermione decided to close herself up for some reason again.

Harry thought it was just awkward. Hermione was his very best friend and Sirius was his godfather, and even though he'd been trying to get Hermione to give in to Sirius, it was for Hermione's safety. He could still find it strange if he wanted to.

Tonks thought they were adorable, and that was enough. She was too interested in the Cauldron concert they'd attended, Cauldron being her favourite band.

Remus was glad his best friend was finally settling down, and was happy he had found someone like he'd found in Tonks. He never thought the day would come, but being his best friend, he could see only good things in the future for the two.

All in all, they had a rather splendid day.

...

Imaginary 20 bucks to whoever loves music enough to figure out whose names I combined to make the singer and guitarist of Cauldron. ^^ You'll have to be really learned in your music to figure it out...I got rid of stage names. ^^ But to be fair, the two names for the first guy are in the same band, and the two names from the second guy are in another band. So. Who are Joe Tallarico and William Hudson? I'll let you know next chapter, along with what happens next with Sirius and Hermione. ^^

Until then, happy reading!


	17. Chapter 17

Whoever discovered that Joe Tallarico is Joe Perry and Steven Tyler (real name Steven Tallarico) and that William Hudson is Axl Rose (real name William Rose) and Slash (real name Saul Hudson) gets imaginary 20 bucks! Congratulations you smart music lovers! ^^

Disclaimer-I own about 20 CDs and about 50 tapes, a guitar, a lava lamp, and an Aerosmith and Jack Sparrow poster. I do not, however, own Harry Potter by JK Rowling, Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Patterson, or The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. Please enjoy.

...

Hermione blushed fiercely. Sirius was in the middle of a horrible argument with a gutsy reporter that was trying to convince a crowd of people that he and Hermione were only married to get out of the law. Even though this was true, Sirius was furious, and angry Sirius was saying some pretty inappropriate things.

"Ask her how I shag her every single night, we're so in love!" Sirius shouted at the man. "I'm surprised the poor girl can walk!"

Hermione blushed even harder.

"I seriously doubt that, Mr. Black," the reporter said snidely.

Sirius sneered. "You're right. We don't shag everynight. We _make love _every night. Because we're _bloody in love!"_

The reporter seemed to realise that he was getting absolutely no where, but he had one last question. "We have absolutely no proof whatsoever that you two are in love. You hardly touch the poor girl."

Sirius' sneer deepened. "Yeah? Have you ever seen two people not in love do this?"

Hermione, who was standing closely behind Sirius, squeaked when Sirius grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her around, then flush against his chest. Hermione couldn't help a small, frightened sound as she looked up into his dark eyes, before his mouth crashed almost painfully onto her own, kissing her with such a passion it was frightening. Soon, the reporters and crowd around them melted away, and she couldn't hear anything, see anything, even smell anything that wasn't Sirius Black. He kissed her for several minutes, at least it seemed that long. Hermione found her fingers tangled in his long, unruly yet strangely kempt hair, his own hands holding her tightly against him, pulling her closer still.

All too soon, Sirius pulled away. But Hermione was glad he had, as she hadn't realised that the need for oxygen was nearly overpowering, and she probably would have pulled out of the kiss reflexively in a few moments if he hadn't. He rested his forehead against hers for a moment as he caught his breath, and then he smiled softly before turning to the reporter, who was looking at his watch.

"Well, I must be going, Mr. Black," he said. "It's been a pleasure talking to you."

He turned and made off down the street. Sirius barked out a laugh. "Oh, don't be such a sore loser! You can admit you lost!"

Hermione was still breathless, though, and her knees were shaking with the effort it took her somehow weakened muscles to stand up. If it weren't for how tightly Sirius had a hold on her waist, she was sure she would fall over and die.

...

"So," Ginny said, tossing a pillow to Hermione, so she could rest on the couch in Grimauld place. "You've got some explaining to do."

Hermione had returned with Ginny for the rest of the afternoon after the incident with the reporter. She had forgotten her pill that morning in the rush, and was feeling rather tired. It was either that, or Sirius had magic, energy sucking lips.

"Oh?" Hermione replied.

Ginny grinned. "That magnificent snog for the reporter. That was so real."

Hermione's eyes widened at the blunt way she'd spoken. "Ginny!"

Ginny laughed. "I'm starting to think that thing Sirius said about "_making love_" every single night might be true."

After the initial shock at Ginny's statement, Hermione found herself indifferent to her friend's interests. "Sure, Ginny."

"I knew it!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I wasn't saying yes!"

"I think you were, anyways."

Hermione sighed.

"Okay, have you snogged him before?"

She shrugged. "Once or twice."

"_Really?" _Ginny screeched. "Were you planning on telling me."

Hermione laughed. "I'm pretty sure we've spoken about it."

"Yeah, but-"

"Ginny, last night I told him we could go every way but all the way," Hermoine blurted.

Ginny blinked. "Wha-what?"

"You heard me."

"But why not all the way?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't even know why I said the first part."

"You love him."

"We've already established that I fancy him and love him like a friend."

"You don't love him like a friend," Ginny said in an accusatory manner. "You're _in _love with him."

"I've only been around him for a few weeks!" Hermione exclaimed. "I am _not_ one of those stupid school girls that claim to be in love after only a couple of weeks. I hardly know anything about him!"

"You know enough!" Ginny cried. "I was in love with Harry even before I knew him."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You fancied him. Meeting him and getting to know him made you fall in love with him."

Ginny sighed. "Okay, you may be right."

"May be?"

"Fine!" Ginny exclaimed. "You're always right! Happy?"

Hermione sighed. "Not exactly."

Ginny's brow lowered. "Why not?"

Hermione shrugged. "I guess I'm just kind of confused right now." She glared at her best girl friend. "And you didn't help at all."

Ginny shook her head. "Oh, I'm sorry Hermione. I guess I'm a little pushy."

"A little?"

Ginny glared. "There's just no winning with you today. I'm going to get us some tea."

Hermione laughed at the angry look on her friend's face as she stood and left the room angrily.

...

"Hermione?"

Hermione looked up from where she was lying on the floor and gasped as she woke up. She looked around in the dark until she saw someone looming in the doorway. He looked just like the man who had cut her neck and thrown the potion on her. She groped around in the dark for her wand. She pointed it at the culprit.

"Stay away!" She said, tears springing to her eyes at the fear of new pain. "I'm warning you!"

"Hermione!"

She shrieked as someone pulled her wand from her hands and used it to cast a _lumos._

It was only Sirius.

"Sirius!" She breathed, throwing her arms around his neck. He laughed and rested his free hand on her back, holding her close.

"Hello there, doll," he said, chuckling.

"I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed. "I thought you were-nevermind-I'm just sorry!"

"Don't sweat it, doll," he said, still laughing lightly. He pulled away slightly and rested a hand on her shoulder, kneeling in front of her. "Are you ready to go? You fell asleep. Did you want to stay?"

Hermione shook her head and stood up, accepting her wand from Sirius. She tried to fix her hair before she followed Sirius out the door and down the hall. After saying her goodbyes, the two apparated back to their flat. They apparated home.

...

Hermione changed into her favourite pajamas and picked up the book she was currently reading from her bedside table before sliding into bed. The tag on the side reminded her that she'd need to return those books from the library back soon, for she no longer needed them.

"What are you reading?" Sirius asked as he wandered into the room, shirtless, and laid down on top of the blankets, picking up his own book along the way.

"Jacob Have I Loved," Hermione replied. "It's a muggle book about a girl whose twin sister has a better life because she's beautiful and talented, while the main character is treated like a boy because she was strong enough to do work, even though all she wanted was to be treated like a girl."

Sirius thought on her summart a moment. "That doesn't seem very fair."

Hermione shrug. "Life isn't sometimes. And this book really points that out to me. Sometimes I get so frustrated at how everyone treats Louise worse than her sister and I just want to throw this book across the room. It's so sad, but I guess that life can be sometimes. It was unfair that Harry was chosen to defeat Voldemort. It could have been some other person, but he was born at the end of July and was chosen. It's also not fair that muggleborns are being forced to marry purebloods, but life just isn't fair and we have to accept whatever's thrown at us."

Sirius watched her for a few moments. "You've just accepted it, then?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, looking up from the pages of her book. Louise was finding out that her best friend had chosen to marry her twin sister, even though she loved him.

"You've only accepted that you have to marry me." He said it as a statement, not as a question. "You don't really care about me."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Sirius, you're being ridiculous. Sure, at first I was simply _accepting_ that I had to marry you, but as I said before, I've been really happy married to you."

"I'm not being ridiculous."

Hermione glanced at him before setting her book back on the table and sighed. "You're being a child is what you're being. I didn't mean it-I was just trying to prove a point."

"I'm not a child," he said stubbornly, looking away and crossing his arms.

Hermione rolled her eyes again. "Let's change the subject. What are you reading?"

She picked up his book and rose her eyebrows at the title. "The Phantom of the Opera?"

"It's another book about things being unfair," Sirius grumbled. "You're like Christine, I'm forcing you to be married to me."

Hermione groaned. "It's not even the same thing! Christine didn't marry the Phantom, and it wasn't for her own good, and she doesn't love the Phantom!"

He blinked. She blinked.

"What?"

Hermione blushed and looked away. "Nothing."

"Hermione, what did you just say?"

"Go away." She buried her face in her blanket.

Sirus grinned. "Did you just say that you love me?"

"Go away!" She repeated, mortified.

"I don't believe it!"

"You shouldn't!" She exclaimed. "I only said I love you, it's not like I'm _in _love with you! It's only like a friendly love, like I have for Harry!"

Sirius wasn't listening, though.

She groaned. "I'm going to bed."

"Goodnight, doll," Sirius said.

Before either of them knew what he was doing, he kissed her on the lips. He pulled back. He'd just kissed his wife goodnight.

Well, it didn't suck, so maybe he'd do it again sometime.

"Goodnight," Hermione whispered.

She scooted forward so she could curl up underneath her blankets, completely embarrassed by what she had said, and now starting to wonder how she _really _felt about him after he'd kissed her goodnight.


	18. Chapter 18

Ciao, meraviglioso, lettori bella!

Well, I'm going camping this weekend, and I'm not entirely sure if there's wifi in this new place (It's called Crazy Horse, in Wisconsin. Not entirely sure where, but it's near Albany. Anybody know it? Anybody know if they've got wifi?), but I'm bringing my laptop for typing just in case. Hey, if it doesn't have wifi, you might just get a few chapters in one day. (I'll probably be swimming and tubing and hiking and having a blast, but, you know, writing is a great way to wind down and relax afterwards. ^^)

So, just enjoy this chapter for the weekend. Heck, if you're bored without updates, read and review my many other stories. ^^

...

Hermione woke up at an average time that morning, but Sirius had beaten her to it, and was out in the kitchen with breakfast set out on the table.

She sat down and crinkled her brow. "How did you know my favourite breakfast?"

He shrugged. "I just remembered what you ordered when we went to that restaurant on our honeymoon, and how you mentioned it was your favourite thing for breakfast."

She rose her eyebrows as she picked up her toast. "You remembered that small little thing?"

He shrugged again and took a sip of his coffee. "You sleep okay?"

Hermione nodded, her mouth full of toast. She swallowed. "Yes, thank you."

"You have plans for today?"

"I was going to take some books back to the library in Diagon Alley and maybe get some shopping done," Hermione replied.

"You need money?" Sirius asked.

Hermione paused. "I guess so...I don't really have much. Remus told me not to get a job, just in case."

Sirius nodded. "I agree. I'll come with you. I've got boatloads of money."

Hermione smiled at him. "Thanks."

He nodded. "No problem, love."

Hermione noted that he'd called her "love" instead of "doll." It was a pretty big change, especially because he'd said "doll" just came out whenever he spoke to her.

She didn't comment, not wanting to embaress herself if she were wrong.

They finished their breakfast, chatting pleasantly. After she ate, Hermione got dressed and ready for the day, then stacked up her books and grabbed her purse and wand, and they apparated to Diagon Alley.

If Sirius realised what the topic of the spell books she'd been reading were, he didn't comment. He was a little cautious about letting her back in to find a few different books-they still weren't sure if it was the library that had done it or the potion.

When they had finished there, they went shopping just down the street from where they were currently living, and then went to a small pub.

"'Mione?"

Hermione jumped at her name and looked away from Sirius, over the counter.  
>"Seamus!" She exclaimed, smiling at him. "How have you been?"<p>

He shrugged, grinning at her. "I been good! I thought of you the other day when I was readinf the prophet. Heard about that new marriage law. Wondered if you found a husband."

Hermione nodded. "You know Sirius Black."

Seamus' eyes widened. "Mr. Black."

Sirius laughed and shook Seamus' hand. "Don't be so afraid, boy. I won't hurt you. I'm Sirius."

Seamus seemed to sigh in relief upon seeing that Sirius Black, the convict who had broken into Hogwarts and ripped the Fat Lady from her portrait and killed all of those people before being arrested, was actually a nice man. His grin returned. "Seamus Finnegan."

"I knew your father," Sirius said.

Seamus nodded, finding it odd that his friend's husband knew his father. "So, did Harry introduce you two?"

Sirius froze. Friend or not, people could be listening, and they needed to keep their secret. "Yes, I suppose you could say that," he replied, smiling and wrapping an arm around Hermione, pulling her closer. "Back in third year. After they got me back from the Veil, Hermione and I started dating. We were going to wait until she'd become a proper healer to marry, but because of the law, we decided to get married early."

"I never knew you two got together," he said, looking between them. "But I know where you're coming from." He leaned in close. "I married a friend of mine last week, too, to keep her safe from the ministry." He grinned. "It made asking her out ten times easier."

Hermione smiled at him. "I'm glad for you."

He nodded, still grinning goofily. "Thanks, you too. I've heard a lot of the guys from Hogwarts are married off. Malfoy even married a muggleborn. I think it was only to spite old Mr. Malfoy."

Hermione was surprised. Malfoy who had called her a mudblood at least once a week back at Hogwarts, that Malfoy? Insane.

"Dean is going to get married tomorrow," Seamus said. "He wanted to invite you, but then his fiancee almost got thrown in Azkaban because she was delaying the wedding, so they're eloping. I'm the only one who knows."

The three of them chatted for a while, until they finally decided to say goodbye and return to their flat. They'd told Remus and Harry that they'd go out to dinner with them and Tonks and Ginny to celebrate Ginny and Harry's wedding without a whole mess of people.

"Sirius?"

He looked up from where he was tying his shoelaces. "Yeah, love?"

"How did you know I wanted to be a healer?"

"I think I overheard you saying that to Harry one time," he replied as he tugged tightly one last time and stood.

She crinkled her brow. "I thought I told everyone I wanted to be an Auror."

He shrugged. "I guess that's not what you told Harry."

She was starting to realise how sweet it was that he had remembered every little thing about her.

He grinned at her. "You look nice today."

She looked down at her flowy off-white skirt, purple tank-top and strappy sandles. She smiled at him. "Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself."

"Pah." He waved her off and looked away, though she knew he knew she was right. Sirius Black always looked as dashing as ever in a button up shirt and a pair of khakis. He gave her a wink and held out his arm. "Ready to go?"

She smiled back and took his arm, and they apparated to a cute little outdoor restaurant just outside of London.

Remus, Tonks, Harry and Ginny were there waiting for them. Hermione gave them all hugs as Sirius hi-fived.

"You look happy."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she pulled away from Ginny's embrace. "Is that a crime?"

Ginny shrugged, grinning. "I ran into Seamus today. He said he saw you and Sirius, and you two looked like you were really in love."

Hermione blushed. "Maybe it was because we had to lie about our marriage! We wanted it to be convincing."

"Right," Ginny said, rolling her eyes. "When are you going to admit that you love him?"

Hermione sighed. "I don't want to talk about it right now. I mean, this is about you loving Harry!"

"I hope so, otherwise I think I'm in the wrong place," Harry said, throwing an arm around his fiancee. Ginnyblushed happily and kissed his cheek.

"You're definitely right, Hermione, I do love Harry," Ginny replied, kissing him again.

Hermione shook her head as Ginny attacked Harry's lips suddenly, and Harry laughed against her mouth. She turned around, only to be nearly knocked over by Sirius, who laughed.

He steadied her. "Did you want to order, or should I order for you?"

She smiled. "You pick." She wondered what other crazy things he remembered about her.

He was correct in ordering her dinner-her favourite once again. This man was amazing.

Harry stood up after he had finished eating and stretched. "Uh...that was delicious. I need to use the restroom. Excuse me, everyone."

"I'm going to go make a call," Remus said, standing and walking the other way.

"I think I'll use the restroom as well," Ginny said.  
>Hermione knew they were ditching her and Sirius purposely when Tonks realised it was her turn for an excuse and she had no idea what to do, so Ginny grabbed her arm and pulled her towards the bathroom.<p>

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Gosh, aren't they discreet."

Sirius laughed. "They mean well. I wonder what they were expecting us to do all alone?"

Hermione shrugged and looked around. She shivered a bit in the breeze that suddenly washed over them.

"Are you cold?" Sirius asked, surprised. He was never cold.

Hermione shrugged. "Maybe a little."

"Sorry I didn't bring a jacket," Sirius said, thoroughly frustrated with himself.

Hermione didn't want to embarress him by reminding him he was a wizard and she a witch, and they could have one in the blink of an eye if they wanted.

"Tell you what," Sirius said, standing. "We'll dance to warm you up."

Hermione glanced around to see that there were several couples under the little pavilion, dancing away.

"Um, okay," Hermione said, standing and taking his hand.

Sirius held her close, hands on her waist, while Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck. She looked around. It was beginning to get dark. It had to be at least 9 by now.

"I didn't know you could dance," Hermione said finally.

He chuckled. "I'm a Black, love. We all have to take dancing lessons. Along with our accounting classes and our art classes and our Italian classes-"

"You speak Italian?" Hermione cut in.

He grinned. "Tu sei la ragazza più bella che abbia mai incontrato."

Hermione didn't speak Italian, but she had a warm feeling that he'd just said something unbelievably kind to her, especially by the tone in which she'd said it, which left her blushing.

"I can also say it in French," he whispered. "Vous êtes la plus belle fille que j'ai jamais rencontré."

She swallowed. "Sirius..."

He grinned. "Sì?"

"If we were only dating, I never would have said this yet," she began, blushing and refusing to look at him. "But these are different circumstances."

She chanced a look at his face. The smouldering look in his eyes pressed her on. "I'm...I'm ready."

He smiled kindly at her. "Are you sure, Hermione? I don't want to pressure you into anything. If you're not ready-"

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I'm ready."

She looked directly into his eyes so that he could see that she was, indeed, ready.

He grinned warmly and his hands left her waist as he pulled her in close to his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around her. He felt her arms tighten around his neck and couldn't help the triumph that swelled in his chest, along with the overpowering feeling of love.

Without another moments hesitation, they apparated back to their flat. He led her into the bedroom and kissed her gently. "Are you absolutely-"

She silenced him with her lips on his.

"I'm positive," she whispered.

He kissed her again and helped her onto the bed. "I'll be gentle," he promised at the nervous look forming in her eyes.

She smiled at him. "I trust you."

...

When they had finished, Sirius had only one thing to say to the girl laying in his arms. "I love you," he whispered as he planted a sweet kiss on her temple.

"I love you, too," she replied before drifting off to sleep, not regretting her decision one little bit.

...

Yes, I speak some Italian, no I do not speak French. ^^

Just thought I'd clear that up. And I don't speak _that _much, so if you were to review in Italian, I'd probably get confused and sit there trying to decipher your words for three hours before I copied and pasted it into Google Translate or something.

Well, there you have it. They finally did it. You pervy little monkeys, you...

So, I just found out they might have free wifi. If they do, you can maybe expect a post. If they don't, you know why I'm not updating.

Bye!


	19. Chapter 19

Thank you so much kscandy15 for sending me my 100th review on this story! ^^ This is the fastest I've ever gotten this many reviews so soon in a story! Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who has been reviewing and putting me on their alerts! I may not reply to them all or thank you all too often, but I really appreciate them! Thank you so much!

...

Sirius woke up the next morning with Hermione still deeply asleep, rested against his chest, one leg thrown over his own, one arm across his chest, the other curved around her head and rested just below his chin. Sirius' arms were wrapped tightly around her, making him happier than he'd been in a very long time.

He smiled as he remembered last nights happenings. She'd been so scared and so nervous, but it didn't matter because she was _herself_ and he loved it. He loved her. More than he'd ever loved anyone.

He sighed and stroked her hair. He was definitely in trouble with this one.

He stayed like that for a half an hour, just stroking her pretty hair and listening to her soft breathing, until she finally woke.

Her eyes were bleary at first and she squinted in the light, but she finally turned her head up to look at Sirius. When she recognised him, she smiled tiredly and snuggled closer to his chest.

"Goodmorning, love," Sirius whispered in her ear.

She shivered. "Goodmorning," she replied, also whispering.

Something about this felt strangely right, waking up in the arms of your spouse, telling them good morning.

Neither of them moved. Sirius began planting small kisses on her cheek, her neck, her shoulder, and she stared out the bedroom window at the bright day, thinking about everything. She was Hermione Granger (Black), after all.

She was really the wife of Sirius Black. She was in love with him. They had consummated their marriage. She was no longer a virgin.

She was in love.

She'd never felt this way about anyone before, not even Ron. Her heart swelled at the feeling and a smile spread across her face.

He chuckled upon seeing this. "What are you thinking about?" He asked against the smooth skin of her neck.

"I love you," she whispered.

He grinned and kissed her on the mouth. "I love you as well, Hermione," he said when he pulled away.

She smiled at him, and neither could find the strength-nor the reason-to look away.

Their eyes jerked away and to the door at the sharp _crack_ of an apparation.

"Sirius!" It was Remus. "You order the biggest, most expensive meal in the entire restaurant, and then you just leave with no explanation? At least leave a tip next time!"

Sirius laughed, not moving away. Hermione stayed rested on his chest.

"Sorry, Moony!" He called out. "Something came up."

"What could be so important...wait, where's Hermione?"

"She's with me," Sirius replied.

"She's-oh!"

Sirius laughed and could almost see the blush tinging his best friends face.

"I'm so sorry, didn't mean to-er-interrupt."

He left without waiting for a reply.

Sirius laughed again, then shook his head. He picked up his wand from the table and aimed it at the stereo in the corner. It began playing a mix CD he'd compiled. A Guns n' Roses song came on and he stroked Hermione's hair again.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked her.

She rose her eyebrows and tilted her head to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"Usually after your first time..."

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed. She blushed. "I'm not sure...I haven't really moved yet."

He smiled and stroked her cheek.

"Other than that, I feel amazing."

His smile widened even more and his kissed her forehead. She closed her eyes and leaned in close to him, capturing his lips with her own.

"Would you like breakfast?" Sirius asked against her soft skin.

"Hm..." She replied. "I wouldn't mind it...but I don't feel like moving."

He laughed. "How about breakfast in bed, then?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

He waved his wand and a few minutes later, a tray of various breakfast items flew into the room.

They ate together in bed, chatting lightly about their plans for the day, which involved pretty much nothing. When they had finished with breakfast, Hermione moved to take her shower, feeling the soreness between her legs silently.

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her bare waist. "Would you like me to come with you?"

Hermione swallowed hard. ""Y-yes," she stuttered awkwardly.

He laughed and took her into the bathroom. After about a half an hour, Hermione had to push Sirius out of the bathroom in order to get clean. Not that she minded, but she'd told him of her plans of maybe going out with Ginny for the afternoon, and sort of needed to be clean.

While she was drying her hair, she gasped and dropped the towel, taking in her appearance.

"Hermione?" Sirius came into the bathroom. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

She was staring at the little marks on her neck and shoulders. Sirius laughed. "Here, let me help."

He touched his wand to each one, and they, in turn, covered themselves up. "You'll have to keep doing that until they're gone, but you should be fine for a few hours or so."

She smiled and thanked him, and he winked. "No problem, love."

...

Chapter completed! ^^ I don't know about you, but Sirius Black is just freaking awesome.


	20. Chapter 20

Look! Twenty chapters! :O

Well, I got a chocolate bar that I will regret eating soon, a can of pepsi max or two or five that I will do a sit up for each twenty calories (which I will not regret...feel the burn! Plus, sit ups give ya thinking time! Go do some situps! Am I the only one who enjoys them?), and a stack of DVDs (I do my best writing when I'm listening to TV/music). This equals me doing a lot of writing tonight. ^^ Enjoy.

...

_"Oh my Godric, I don't believe it!"_

Hermione winced at the decibel her best friend chose to shriek her exclamation at her secret.

"Ginny!" Hermione shushed her, looking around apologetically at the other occupants of the cafe that they continued to go to, the Dragon Scale, and grinned sheepishly at the glaring waiter.

"You guys-"

Hermione covered Ginny's face with her hand. "Shut _up!" _She hissed. Then she smiled. She couldn't be angry today. "And yes!"

Ginny squealed from beneath Hermione's hand and bounced in her chair, acting nothing like the grown and engaged woman she was. Actually, she was only 16 still, but everyone else had aged with the war. She just decided not to.

Hermione rolled her eyes and removed her hand, replacing it on her coffee mug and smiling gently.

"I can't believe you guys made love," Ginny sighed in a whisper, looking dreamily out the window. "Hermione, it's so romantic! You go out dancing and then-"

She sighed again and dropped back into her seat, shaking her head, the biggest grin Hermione had ever seen plastered across her face.

Hermione laughed. "You're so strange, Ginny," she said, coughing gently into her napkin.

Ginny laughed as well. "I'm just so happy!"

"If this is how you are with me, how will you be with Harry?" Hermione said, still laughing.

"Hermione, what is that on your napkin?" Ginny asked, alarmed.

Hermione looked down at the small red dots. She shrugged. "Just a little lipstick, I guess."

Ginny looked skeptical, but moved on quickly. "This is so great! How was he?"

Hermione blushed fiercely. "Ginny!"

"Well?"

"How do you think he was?" Hermione finally said, staring into her coffee. "He's Sirius Black for Merlin's sake. Of course he was good."

Ginny smiled dreamily. "Did it hurt?"

"A lot," Hermione said, taking a sip of her coffee. "I'm actually still sore."

Ginny nodded. "That's what Lavender said about her and that Slytherin boy of hers..."

Ginny went on a long reel about sex, but all Hermione could think of was getting back to Sirius. What was he doing? Where was he? Was he thinking about her, too?

...

"Sirius, mate, why are you so giddy?"

Sirius grinned at his godson. "Because, Harry m'boy, last night, I finally bedded my wife."

Harry's eyes widened.

Sirius laughed. "Don't give me that look, Harry. She's my wife. I love her." Sirius took a deep drink of his firewhiskey.

Harry didn't drop the look. "Sirius, you'd better be careful."

"I have no idea what you mean," Sirius said, watching as a couple of girls wandered past. He successfully looked away.

"I mean," Harry said, getting in between Sirius' vision and the next couple of floozy's walking past them. "I don't want Hermione showing up at my house crying because you left her."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Why would I leave her? I love her. More than I've ever loved anyone. And why do you keep getting in the way of those girls? I'm not even looking at them."

"You'd better not be," Remus said, returning from the bathroom.

Sirius groaned. "I can't do anything right!"

Harry sighed. "Just don't hurt her. Please."

Sirius looked directly into Harry's eyes. "I _swear_ I will never leave her. _Ever."_

Harry appraised Sirius for a long while, before nodding and grinning. "So. The great Sirius Black is in love."

"Ah. Well." Sirius turned around and leaned his elbows back against the bar. "I guess it just took the right girl."

"And Hermione's her?" Remus asked.

"Of course!" Sirius exclaimed. His eyes looked far off for a few moments. "She's pretty and smart and witty and adorable..."

Harry laughed. "What's happened to you, mate?"

"I fell in love, Harry," Sirius said, running his finger around the glass. "It's kind of a weird feeling. Do you get this way with Ginny?"

"Yeah," Harry said, his eyes fogging over as well. "I guess I do." Harry snorted. "I just never guessed you'd be the one to shout it to the world."

Sirius shrugged, grinning. "I dunno...I just don't know how else to get these feelings out. It's weird. I don't know how much longer I can keep it all in before I throw up or something."

Remus rose an eyebrow. "Throw up?"

"I'm scared a rainbow might come out or something," Sirius said, taking a drink of his firewhiskey. "I don't know, mate. That's what it feels like."

Remus laughed. "Harry, look at him. Out of his mind in love."

"There's nothing wrong with that!" Sirius exclaimed fiercely. "I mean, you guys are both in love. You know, you've got Ginny, you've got Tonks. I've got my Hermione. We're all happy."

"Well, I guess I lost the bet, then!"

Sirius looked at Harry with his eyebrows in his hairline. "Bet?"

"Yeah, everyone's got bets with Fred and George," Harry replied, drinking his own firewhiskey. "I bet that you wouldn't fall in love with her."

"You were very wrong, boy," Sirius replied. "How much did you bet?"

"30 galleons."

Sirius spit his drink back into the cup and choked. "Harry!"

Harry laughed and shrugged. "You lost me 30 galleons, mate! I should be yelling at you."

Sirius glared sternly, but burst into laughter. "I guess it's not really my style, eh? Well, I'd better go find her. Before I, you know, throw up a rainbow."

Laughter followed him out of the pub as he walked out into the slowly cooling weather. He shoved his hands deep in his jacket and walked down the street towards Hermione's cafe.

He spotted her through the window and a happy smile spread across his face. Hermione was talking animatedly with Ginny, but he was worried to see her coughing every once in a while. She turned her head slightly and spotted him out of the corner of her eye, and she smiled, waving at him almost hesitantly.

His grin widened and he waved at her as well, then walked ahead a little so he could open the door and go to her.

He grabbed a chair and plopped down beside Hermione, hugging her and kissing her neck. "Hello, Hermione."

Hermione blushed and touched his face. "Hello, Sirius."

"Do you guys want me to...er..."

Ginny was standing up and pulling her purse over her shoulder.

"No, Ginny, you don't have to-"

Ginny laughed and shook her head. "It's all right, 'Mione. Sirius, be good."

He barked out a laugh. "Harry's in a pub just down the street."

Ginny thanked him and quickly left. Sirius didn't remove his lips from Hermione's neck. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Hermione whispered.

"Yeah? You need anything? You want to go somewhere?"

Hermione shook her head. "I'm good, so long as I'm with you."

Sirius made a sound in the back of his throat and held her closer. "What say you we go back to the house, to the bedroom...?"

Hermione managed a small, "Yes," and they apparated immediately after Sirius dumped a pile of money on the table.

...

Hermione smiled up at Sirius. "I love you."

He kissed her neck. "I love you, too. I've never loved anyone like this before, Hermione. Please forgive me if I can't figure out how to show it."

Hermione laughed softly, stroking his slightly damp locks away from his face. "It's okay, Sirius. I think you're doing just fine."

He smiled and tangled his hands in her hair, kissing her passionately again.

Hermione sighed.

Sirius touched her lips, then his. He looked down at his fingers. "Hermione, where are you bleeding from?"

Hermione touched her lips and looked at her own hand, seeing the blood there. She touched her stitches-still intact. She couldn't find a cut anywhere on her lips. "I'm not sure. Are you positive it's me?"

He touched his own mouth. "It's not me."

Hermione stared up at Sirius, her expression worried. "Has your cough come back?"

She shook her head, then nodded. "But it's very small, nothing to be worried about."

He began to caress her cheek. "I'm not so sure, Hermione. You're looking a tad pale. I think you should go to sleep."

She nodded and snuggled beneath the blankets. Sirius got off of her and moved to get out of bed, but her grip on his hand tightened. "No. Stay, please."

He nodded, smiling. "Anything for you."

She fell asleep a few minutes later, still smiling.

As soon as she was asleep, Sirius got out of bed and magically dressed them both, then sent a worried patronus to Remus. A few moments later he appeared, looking concerned.

"Where is she?" Remus asked.

Sirius nodded towards the bedroom. Remus walked quietly towards the door. "You didn't bite her or something, did you?"

"Not hard enough to make her bleed," Sirius said defensively. Remus rolled his eyes and sat on the bed next to Hermione. He listened to her breathing a moment and touched her lips, looking at the blood there. He placed a hand on her chest and stared far away, feeling her heart beat.

"Her heart beat is a little fast," Remus said. "A bit irregular, too. Not healthy at all... Has she been complaining?"

"No," Sirius replied, shaking his head and looking down worriedly at his wife. "She's been coughing a little bit lately."

"Have the healers at St. Mungo's gotten back to you yet?"

Sirius shrugged. "On our last visit, they said that they still had a few more tests to get through, but whatever it was, it was relatively harmless. They think whatever is going on is lingering problems caused by the potion, but they gave her a potion to get rid of any remaining traces."

"Then what is it, I wonder," Remus said to himself, staring down at her, that look he got in his eyes when he was trying to figure out a difficult problem. Sirius remembered it very clearly from his Hogwarts days.

"Should I take her in?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"I don't think so," Remus said. "At least, she seems fine now. Maybe you should schedule something for sometime soon. I'm sure they'd appreciate that rather than you bursting in like you normally do."

Sirius smirked. "Yeah, I suppose. I'll go send them an owl."

Remus nodded. "Just contact me again if you need any help."

Sirius nodded as well and pried his eyes away from Hermione's sleeping form to give Remus a smile. "Thanks, mate. Say hello to Dora for me."

Remus smiled back. "Of course."

He apparated and Sirius wrote a letter to St. Mungo's quickly, before climbing back into bed with Hermione and wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her close. Her breathing was a little quick. He stroked her hair back from her face and felt her skin. It was a little warm.

He sighed. Well, as long as she wasn't acting like she was dying and he could feel her breathing, he tried to keep himself from overreacting.

Soon, he too was asleep.

...

Yay. I finished. I watched Enchanted and Adventures in Babysitting, and now I have completed the chapter. ^^ Maybe more from me tonight, maybe not.


	21. Chapter 21

I updated Beautiful Disaster, and then felt like writing more of this. So, here I am. ^^

...

Hermione woke up to an awful flavour in her mouth and moved to get a drink. She felt Sirius' arm tight around her waist and smiled.

"Sirius?"

Nothing.

"Sirius?"

"Mmmmm..."

Hermione giggled and turned around in his arms. "Sirius, I need to get up."

He grinned, his eyes still closed. Hermione knew he was awake when his arms tightened even more.

"Sirius..."

"No," he mumbled into her forehead.

She giggled again. "Please?"

"No, Mione," he said. "Stay here."

She kissed his nose. "Please...?"

He groaned and opened his eyes, bringing his lips to her forehead with a sigh. "Well, I suppose so, if you must."

"I must," she said, wiggling out of his arms. He released her and let her get out of bed. She returned to the bedroom with a half empty glass of water, licking her lips and cringing at the dried blood still there, taking another sip. She sat down on the bed and glanced at the digital clock.

She groaned. "It's only 3."

"So come back to bed," Sirius mumbled, holding his arms open for Hermione to climb back in. She set her water on the bedside table and crawled on hands and knees towards him, resting herself against his chest.

"When did I put my pajamas on?" she whispered.

"When Remus stopped over," Sirius replied tiredly. "I did it. I wanted him to make sure you were okay. I scheduled an appointment for you for next week Friday to make sure you're okay."

"Sirius, I'm fine-"

"I don't want to take any chances," Sirius replied quickly. "If anything happened to you, Hermione, I'd kill myself. It may sound selfish, but I'm not sure how I'd react. I've never really lost anyone I love like I love you. Sure, I lost James, but that's different. He was a friend. You're my wife."

Hermione smiled and kissed his chin. "Thank you."

He held her tighter and kissed the top of her head. "I love you."

Hermione snuggled up close to him. "I love you, too."

...

The next morning, Sirius decided they would spend the entire day together. After she got out of the shower and was drying off her hair, he wrapped his arms around her stomach. "What shall we do today?"

She laughed. "Not sure. What would you like to do?"

"Anything that involves being with you," Sirius replied.

"Good, me too," Hermione replied, leaning into him and dropping her towel from her hair. He closed his eyes and just held her for a moment.

"Well," he said finally. "Why don't we start with breakfast?"

She turned around and smiled at him. "Okay."

They stopped at a small family restaurant at around ten o'clock and Sirius found that there really never was a dull moment with Hermione. There was never an awkward silence, and she always had something to say about every thing he brought up. And though he knew her to be smarter than he, on certain topics her questions seemed endless. He was having difficulties answering some of the incerdibly deep questions she was asking.

After breakfast, they went to a small carnival. Hermione laughed and excelled at all of the ridiculous games, knowing when they were rigged so they could avoid making a fool of themselves.

At one point, Sirius used magic to win her a giant, stuffed black dog. She decided to name him Cauldron.

Hermione surprised Sirius by saying she wanted to go on a ride. Sirius lied and told her he hated roller coasters to make her change her mind. If he was being honest with himself, he knew it was because he didn't want her to over exert herself with screaming or excitement.

So they instead did the ferris wheel. Hermione held his hand tightly the entire time-she was absolutely horrified of heights, and somehow, Sirius didn't mind her getting afraid on here. She gripped his arm tightly, pulling herself flush against his side. He wrapped an arm around her, and she nearly squeezed the life out of his fingers.

"What if it breaks?" Hermione said nervously.

"I'll catch you."

"What if you can't?"

"Why would I not be able to?"

"What if it kills you?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Hermione. Relax. The point is to enjoy the ride."

She tried to relax, but ended up burying her face in Sirius' chest. Sirius chuckled and stroked her hair. "It'll be alright, love. I'll never ever let anything bad happen to you."

She nodded into his chest and looked out over the edge of the ferris wheel. "Sirius, look at the sunset!"

He peered just over some hills in the distance and saw the oranges, reds, and yellows slowly fading up into purple and blue and then black behind them.

He shrugged. "It's alright."

"Are you kidding?" She breathed. "It's breathtaking!"

"After seeing you, nothing can impress me anymore," Sirius said, nuzzling her cheek.

Hermione grinned. "Oh, stop it. I'm not all that beautiful."

"And if I hear that again, I'll have to do something bad to you."

She gulped, unable to tell if he was serious or not. "Like what?"

"Like this!"

He attacked her with his fingers, tickling her ribs and her arms. Hermione burst into peals of laughter, kicking about. Suddenly, the cart they were in swung.

She shrieked and gripped Sirius' arm like she was trying to kill it. He laughed and pulled her in for a kiss. Almost instantly she forgot her fear, and she was able to enjoy the rest of the ride.

When they got off of the ferris wheel, they decided to leave.

Sirius apparated them to a small park, where a few mothers were trying to convince their children it was time to go home, but they were too adorable to say no to. Hermione watched the mothers curiously, holding tightly to Sirius' hand as they walked circles around the big area.

"Sirius?" Hermione said. "Can I ask you something?"

He chuckled. "I believe you just did."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but otherwise ignored him. "What do you think about...trying for a baby?"

Sirius rose his eyebrows, a bit surprised. "So early?"

"Well, what if something ends up going wrong and we have to try again?"

Sirius shrugged and stopped, turning her to look at him. He smiled and kissed her. "If that's what you want."

She smiled softly at him. "It is."

He grinned and picked her up, apparating them back home. He laid her on the bed and began to kiss her. "Positive?"

"Always."

And he kissed her.

...

And-tadah! I'm getting kind of soppy. Awkward...

^^ Night, friends.


	22. Chapter 22

They tried every night for a month. They had now been married exactly two months.

"Hermione?"

She looked up from her book and grinned at her husband, who wandered in through the door of their flat and knelt down on the floor in front of her on the couch. He had something behind his back.

"Yes, Sirius, what is it?" She asked after giving him a kiss. She was stroking her bunny Theseus absently.

He smiled softly. "I never got the chance to buy you a ring."

Her eyes widened and her mouth slowly formed an "o" as he pulled out a small velvet box and held it out in front of her. He opened it and placed the ring on her hand, removing it from Theseus. He kissed her fingers. "Do you like it?"

"Like it?" Hermione whispered. It was the biggest black diamond she had ever seen. The band was made of tiny, crystal clear diamonds covering the gold. It was big, but not so big that it would get in the way. "Sirius, I love it!"

He grinned at her as she threw her arms around him, giggling like a little girl. "Thank you so much!"

He kissed her. "No problem, love. So. Are you ready?"

She took a deep breath and returned Theseus to her cage, then nodded and laced her fingers through his. He winked at her before they apparated to St. Mungo's.

The last time she'd been here it had been for the appointment Sirius had scheduled. She had been given a potion to help with her coughing, but they were still doing tests on the potion and the little black creatures. They really couldn't find anything wrong with them, and couldn't see anything wrong with her, despite the outward signs-she had lost a lot of weight, and she continued coughing up large amounts of blood.

Now, with tomorrow being the day of their first ministry inspection, they needed to see if Hermione had yet become pregnant. With Sirius' fervor when trying, she couldn't see how she could not be.

She squeezed his fingers tightly before following the nurse into a room in the back. Hermione knew she could have checked herself, but she needed more advanced magic so early, and she couldn't trust just any old spell.

The test was simple-just a wave of the wand and the colour change of her urine sample.

The healer looked up from the cup of now purple liquid. She shook her head. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Black. Not today."

Hermione's heart sunk. "I understand."

"But hey," she said in her thick Jamaican accent. "You've got a mighty fine husband who seems up for trying again."

Hermione wiped a few small tears from her eyes. "Okay."

Hermione's assigned Healer, Healer Sparrow, sighed and smiled sadly, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "I'm very sorry, Hermione. But I have something else I need to say."

Hermione wiped away a few more tears and looked up at the pretty young woman. "Yes, what is it?"

"I'm going to go get Sirius."

Hermione nodded and Healer Sparrow left the room, leaving Hermione all by herself.

_It's okay, _she thought to herself, rubbing her arms. _I mean, it's not like everything is over. And the only reason we started so early was so that if something happened, we could try again. And nothing happened, really. It just didn't work the first time._

Hermione gasped.

_What if what she needs to tell me is that I'm unable to conceive a child?_

Hermione felt sick.

_It's okay if that's the case, right? Sirius loves me. He'd run away with me, hide me from Azkaban._

She shook her head.

_Can I ask him to do that? No. I can't. I can't let him give up everything just for me. If I can't bear a child, I'll just leave. It wouldn't be right for me to force Sirius away from everyone he loves._

As soon as she had resolved this, Sirius came in with Healer Sparrow, and he immediately rushed to her side, kissing her cheek and stroking her hair. "Are you alright?" He asked against her skin. "Don't be sad, okay, Hermione? It's okay, we'll just try again! That's all."

Hermione shook her head and forced a smile for him. "I'm okay," she said quietly.

He smiled softly at her and wiped away a tear with his finger tip.

"Actually," said Healer Sparrow awkwardly as she shut the door. "That's what I wanted to talk to you two about. Hermione, you realise you're sick, correct?"

Hermione shook her head. "It's only a little cough. I'm fine."

Healer Sparrow sighed. "Hermione, your body is very weak. Now, it's not my say whether or not you do, but I think it would be best if you didn't try again. You could really hurt yourself."

"It's not your say," Sirius snapped. "And what do you want her to do? Die? Be locked up in Azkaban? Because that's what will happen if we _don't _try again."

"I'm not saying you shouldn't try ever again," Healer Sparrow said defensively. "I'm only saying that maybe you should wait until you're better."

"We've only got so much time!" Hermione said. "You've got to understand that, Healer Sparrow. We've only got four months until I have to be pregnant, or they'll kill me, or have me locked up!"

"I fear that if you try again, you'll kill yourself, or get locked up in St. Mungo's," Healer Sparrow said in a final attempt to convince her otherwise. "Now, it's not up to me. You two can try all you want. I just don't want to see you hurt."

Hermione nodded. "Thank you for your advice and concern. May we leave now?"

Healer Sparrow stood and nodded, opening the door so the two could leave. "Goodbye, you two."

Hermione smiled and she and Sirius left.

"We've got an Order meeting tonight," Sirius said, trying to turn the subject from anything upsetting while they ate at a restaurant just down the road from their flat. "Are you okay to go?"

She smiled and nodded her head quickly. "Fine. I'm fine. It's not like it's not possible for me to conceive."

Sirius swallowed noticeably, looking into his wine glass. "So...we're still going to try?"

"Of course," Hermione whispered. "Why would we not?"

"Well..." Sirius said hesitantly. "Your health. I don't want to hurt you."

Hermione looked away. It was gloomy outside, and the heavy black clouds threatened rain. She looked away from the depressing sight and into her tea.

"Hermione?"

She shook her head. "It's okay, Sirius. I'll be okay." She coughed lightly into her napkin. "I'll be okay," she repeated.

He nodded and they left for the meeting.

"Hermione, are you alright?"

Hermione looked away from the window. It was raining steadily now, and it was only helping to lower her spirits.

"Sirius told me what the Healer said." He leaned on his elbows next to her, staring out the window. "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay," Hermione said sadly. She felt like she'd been saying that a lot lately. "It's not like we can't try again."

Harry nodded. "Hermione, be careful, okay? I don't think I could take it if you were to die."

Hermione tried to smile for him. "Thank you."

Tears filled her eyes when Harry wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. She would have burst into horrible sobs if not for Remus starting the meeting.

Several Death Eaters had been caught trying to slip something into muggle water supply. They had been stopped, but vanished, and it was up to them to discover their whereabouts.

Hermione took careful notes during the meeting, listening to everything they said about the Death Eaters, new magic that could be helpful, the training of a few new Order members, and who they could trust along with who they now couldn't.

After the meeting, Ginny did her best to comfort her best friend, as did several others who noticed she was looking down, and by the end of the night, Hermione was in a considerably better mood. Her health was fine, she told herself, and she would be okay. She had been through much worse things in her life.

...

Several weeks later, after much trying, Hermione was feeling a great bit better. Her spirits had lifted and she hardly noticed her coughing and chest pains anymore. Their first inspection had gone well. They'd sent in the same pretty boy who had questioned them for their marriage liscense. He'd taken their news about Hermione's health and lack of children with a mock-sympathetic heart, and told them that they had passed the first inspection.

Sirius rolled over. The night before, he had declared that this would be it-this would be the time they'd been waiting for. He saw Hermione curled up beside him, and he smiled tiredly, pulling her hair from her shoulders to get a better view of her face. "Goodmorning, Hermione," he whispered.

He didn't get an answer. Lowering his eyebrows, he tried shaking her awake-Hermione was a very light sleeper. She should have woken just at his voice.

She didn't move. Sirius got on his knees and rolled her over. Her eyes were closed and her skin was hot and pale. "Hermione?"

He saw the blood on his lips and almost died. In his haste to gather her in his arms to take her to St. Mungo's, he almost forgot their clothes. He quickly dressed them and apparated to the hospital. Hermione was rushed to a room on a stretcher.

He hovered over the doctors tending to her until he was kicked out of the room all together. He paced back and forth in the waiting room until someone was finally sent for him.

"Mr. Black?"

The Healer's expression was completely blank, giving Sirius no hints as to what might be wrong, if Hermione was okay, if she was going to be okay.

He ran past the Healer and into the room he had left Hermione in. She was still asleep. Sirius knelt down beside her and took her hand.

"Is she okay?" Sirius whispered to the healer that had finally caught up with him.

"I'm afraid not," said the healer sullenly.

Sirius felt tears in his eyes. This girl had caused him more sadness and tears than he'd had in a very long time.

"But she will be, if we can get her the proper antidote."

Sirius' eyes jumped to the healer's. "Then get it to her! I'll pay anything."

The healer shook his head. "It's not a matter of payment, Mr. Black. It's a matter of finding it. I understand you are friends with a Mr. Severus Snape, the Potions Master?"

Sirius smiled bitterly at the healer. "I would hardly call us friends, but we work together, and he and Hermione have been getting along fine. Why?"

"Would you mind asking him to come here quickly? I think he can help us."

Sirius nodded and left the room to quickly send a patronus to his enemy, who, upon learning it was life or death for Hermione, appeared quickly.

"What is the meaning of this?" He asked, entering Hermione's room. He saw Hermione asleep in the bed and his expression softened. "Is she okay?"

"No," Sirius replied. "Obviously, you can see that. But this healer says you can help."

"I am Healer Sanders," the man said, holding out his hand to Snape, who ignored him. "It's a real honor to meet you, Mr. Snape. You're the best potions master this world has ever seen."

"Yes, well..." Snape shook his head. "What can I do?"

"Are you familiar with a potion called Adulterationus Bane, Mr. Snape?"

Snape's eyebrows rose as he appraised Hermione. "I've heard of it, but I fear I've never actually made it, due to the fact that I've had no reason to make such a horrible thing, and the materials are impossibly difficult to come by.'

The doctor nodded. "That is why we were unable to identify it. Plus, it was being shielded very well by the toxins of an Aegis Squelch."

Snape seemed very surprised. "This is very dark magic, Mr. Sanders. Very old."

Healer Sanders nodded. "The squelch is buried deeply in her heart, Mr. Snape, and it's toxins are not only shielding the Adulterationus Bane, but enhancing and adding to its effects. I'm sure you are aware there is a counter potion to the Bane?"

Snape nodded. "Of course."

"If she is given the potion in time, it will both kill the squelch and cancel the bane," said Healer Sanders. "And if given to her before the end of tomorrow, her baby will be saved."

Sirius choked. "Baby?"

"Why, yes, Mr. Black," Healer Sanders said, giving him a confused look. "Hermione is pregnant."

Sirius' jaw dropped. "Oh, dear Merlin."

...

Very long, very depressing chapter. I'm a messed up person.

I've had lots of reviews from people saying "I hope Hermione gets better, but I know you won't let her!" And I'm sad to say you're right. :(

Oh, well, I think that some parts will be happy! Maybe. Just continue enjoying! ^^


	23. Chapter 23

You silly people. ^^ It wouldn't be any fun at all if I spoiled the ending. Just keep reading if you like it!

Well, look at me go! I had the idea and knew I'd forget if I didn't get it all down. Hope you enjoy this!

...

Sirius found himself in the Amazon once again, but this time, he was more serious than he had been the first time. No more did he laugh when someone was attacked by odd creatures. Now he lost his temper with anyone who found themselves being latched onto or bitten.

This time there was another difference, that being there were less people traveling through such a dangerous area. Only Sirius, Snape, Harry, and Remus were making the long trek through the rainforest to save Hermione.

"We've got nearly all of the ingrediants," Snape said, closing the small bag he was keeping his samples safely inside of. "We need one more."

"What do we need?" Sirius demanded, slashing through branches instead of taking the time to push them aside.

"We need the tear of a Siren."

Sirius turned to Snape. "You mean a mermaid?"

"Of course not, you dolt," Snape snapped. "A Siren is completely different from a mermaid. Mermaids have gills and are incapable of producing tears. Sirens must come up for air. They have tear ducts. And though they are not mermaids, they create song dangerous to all men."

"How are we going to get one?" Harry asked, catching up to them.

"The only way to get the tear of a Siren," Remus began, "is to capture one and bring it on land. And if I am correct, I believe the tear needs to be fresh. Meaning we will need to bring the Siren to Hermione."

Snape nodded, looking around. "That is correct. We will find a Siren in the Amazon River, just up ahead. We will need to be completely quiet. And I will need to do this."

He pointed his wand at the ground between them, and an eery blue smoke spilled from his wand, moving towards each man in the circle and filling their ears. Sirius could hear nothing.

Shouldn't they have thought of a plan before going deaf? Was Snape stupid? But when Snape spoke, he could hear him.

"Why can I hear nothing but our voices?" Sirius asked, following Snape, hating not knowing something the Potions Master knew.

"Because," Snape drawled, "it is a spell which blocks out all but human speech. It is a spell any wizard who got through his first year should know."

"I'm sorry, Snivellus, I was having too much fun with my friends and my life to remember every simpleton spell in the book," Sirius snapped.

"Sirius!" Remus snapped. "You're being completely childish. You're a grown, married man. So shut up and just do what he says."

Remembering that he had a wife quickly sobered him up and he listened to every word Snape had to say. He taught them how they could catch a Siren, and then how they would get it to his laboratory to brew the potion and get it to Hermione as quickly as they could.

Snape's ideas and knowledge of Sirens were completely correct-as soon as they stepped onto the bank of the river, beautiful girls with long, silvery tails peeked their heads above the water and swam towards them with an evil glint in their eyes, their mouths moving in a song the men were unable to hear.

Because Harry was in front, and the youngest of all of them, he was the first to have his arm taken hold of by the creature, so like a human, but completely soulless and after only one thing. Their job was to act as if they heard the song, and were mesmerised as they came forward to meet what the mermaids believed would be their doom.

Harry did exactly what Snape had told him to do if a Siren were to latch herself on and continue singing-he had to look directly into their eyes and think of someone he loved with all of his heart. Having a fiancee made it very easy for him to ignore the attractive and naked from the neck down fish-girl, and think just of his redheaded girlfriend, whom he loved more than anyone else on the planet. This angered the Siren and she began to throw a tantrum, thrashing about in the water, her hands refusing to let go of Harry.

Harry steeled himself and allowed himself to be pulled beneath the water. Sirius, being the closest, did what Snape had said to do when the Siren had submerged with one of them. He jumped in after Harry and grabbed onto the tail of the Siren. It was stronger than anything he'd ever felt as it whipped him around, trying to shake him off.

Apparently, Sirens were very protective of each other, as Sirius felt himself being pulled off of the first one by another, who began singing to him angrily, though he could hear nothing. He just thought of Hermione.

Her pretty chocolate eyes, her shiny, messy hair, her wit, how she engaged him in conversation like no other, the first night they shared together, how happy she made him, and how all of this was for her.

The Siren saw the love in his eyes, and he saw the jealousy in hers. She did what the first had done to Harry, and began shaking him around. He knew there was no getting out of this unless someone jumped in and saved him. It would have to be either Remus or Snape, as Harry was also in need of help.

Harry! Where was he? Sirius couldn't tell if the darkness around him was from lack of oxygen or because he was going deeper into the river. The current was very strong, but the Siren's tail was stronger, and kept them in the same area, but they continued to sink.

There were flashes of light all around them, now, and the many other Sirens in the water swam around frantically, trying to get away from the streaks of lightening being sent from someone's wand.

A blue flash grazed the Siren's arm, and Sirius suddenly found himself being struck in the chest with an unimaginable force by the tail of the Siren. He gasped, water filling his lungs, burning him. He struggled to find air, to reach the surface, but he was too far under.

Something grabbed his arms and ripped him up above the water. It was Snape, his greasy hair plastered to his face, his breathing ragged.

Sirius threw up water and breakfast. He choked for several minutes before pushing his wet hair out of his eyes with shaky hands. "Where's Harry?"

He looked around worriedly when he didn't recieve a reply. Remus stared at his feet. Snape looked away. "Where is he?" Sirius demanded fiercely.

"There," Remus said, pointing to Sirius' unconscious grandson. He rushed to Harry's side.

"He's still alive," Snape said. "But one of the Siren's managed to inject his arm with a dangerous toxin."

"How can we heal him?" Sirius asked quietly.

"The tear of a Siren," Snape said, not looking at anyone.

"We need to get one!" Sirius said, moving to dive back into the river.

"Have you gone mad?" Snape roared, grabbing Sirius by the collar of his robes and ripping him backwards with such a force that he fellt to the ground. He struggled back up.

"We need a Siren tear," Sirius said, nearly crying now. "For Harry! We have to save Harry. And Hermione! You can't let her die, Snape, you can't! I love her."

"I know this, Black!" Snape snapped. "But what do you expect me to do? Your mistake sent them all swimming away."

"Wait-quiet!"

Snape listened for a moment, then shook his head. "I hear nothing-"

"Shut up! Take the spell off, I think mine's beginning to wear away anyways."

Snape obliged, and they could soon hear the sound of someone shedding tears, pain very much evident.

Sirius followed the noise around a tree and down the river a small ways.

The Siren was one of the prettiest he'd seen, but not in a seductive way. She seemed young, as if they had been training her in trying to catch unsuspecting men. She looked to be about Hermione's age, and she was hurt. There was a tear in her tail, which was the only part of her still in the water. Her long, long brown hair stuck to her back, and tears poured from her face.

"Excuse me?"

She gasped and splashed her face with water from the river, evidently knowing the power of her sadness. But she and Sirius both knew that to swim with her wounded tail would do nothing but hurt her, so she had to stay there.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Sirius said, coming towards her. "You're burned. Do you need help?"

The Siren turned to him with very sad blue eyes. "Help?"

"Yes," Sirius said. "Would you like me to help you?"

"You would help me, who hurt your friend?"

Sirius saw the blood on her arms and nails and realised it was not from her wound, but from Harry's. Sirius shook his head. "It doesn't matter. As long as you promise not to hurt us, I can get you to help."

She looked around, unsure of whether or not she could trust him.

"How can I trust you not to hurt me?" she whispered, arms wrapped tightly around herself. She was cold, despite how warm it was in the rainforest.

Sirius sat down beside her and dipped his feet into the water. "I'm married to a girl who wondered the same thing," Sirius said. "There is a law made by the wizards that say all muggle born wizards must marry a pureblood, and I was her only hope. But she worried all I would do is hurt her. Now, she is pregnant with my child."

The Siren seemed intrigued by his story, so he continued. "Have you ever heard of a squelch?"

She crinkled her nose and nodded her head. Sirius took off his robes and wrapped them around her shoulders to keep her from shivering.

"One of them is stuck in her heart, enhancing a potion that got into her blood," Sirius said. "And without the tear of a Siren, she will die."

"So you only want me to save your wife?" She asked, moving to push off his robes.

Sirius shook his head and kept the fabric firmly around her. "Of course not. That would just be a plus. What I want to do is take care of that nasty burn."

She looked down at her tail. "You promise you will give me help if I come with you to save your wife?"

"Upon pain of death," Sirius said. "And you can trust me on that. I've been dead before, and don't intend to go back for a while."

She appraised him for a moment to see if she could truly trust the man, before she backed out of the water, laying her tail out before her.

Sirius was surprised as he watched her tail melt into human legs. With legs, he saw how short and young she really was. She tried to get to her feet, but her foot had also received the burn, and she stumbled.

Sirius buttoned his robes around her and lifted her up into his arms like he'd done with Hermione so many times before, and he returned to the others.

"My name is Sirius, by the way," Sirius said when they were almost there.

"I am Ren," she whispered.

"Everyone, this is Ren!" Sirius announced to the clearing.

Harry was awake now, and Remus was kneeling by him, trying to wash the cuts on his arms.

"She's the one who did this," Harry hissed as Remus trickled water over the small nail bites.

"Yes, but we had a little chat, and she'd quite a good person, I think. And she needs help just like you and Hermione do."

"I will help," she whispered. Sirius laid her by Harry, who cringed.

"I am sorry," she said quietly. She gently took his arm and leaned over it, batting her eyelashes across his mottled skin.

Harry inhaled deeply, then let it all out in a sigh as she leaned away, wiping at her pretty blue eyes. "You will be healed. Where is your wife, Sirius?"

"She's in the hospital," Sirius replied. "We need to get you there to treat your leg. Do you think you can endure one more stop?"

She nodded and held out her arms for Sirius to pick her up.

"We will go to my laboratory," Snape said simply before apparating.

Remus helped Harry, and with Ren in his arms, Sirius quickly departed as well, thinking all the while that they needed to hurry up, or it would be too late.


	24. Chapter 24

Well, ScarlettJuliett sent me a review that inflated my ego a bit higher than healthy, and opened WordPad for another chapter. Then I went to turn off my email and found a new review from kscandy15, and I almost blew up with happiness. My head is so big right now, that I can hardly hold it up. And if anyone else sends me awesome reviews while I'm writing this, then you too! All reviews make me happy. ^^ Enjoy, please!

...

"Ever heard of these neat things called 'candles,' Snivellus?"

"Honestly, you haven't gotten over calling me that, Black?" Snape said, sneering.

Sirius transfigured random objects of Snape's into candles after setting Ren on a metal countertop and lit each one, brightening the room. "How long is this potion going to take? We have about two hours before it's too late."

"Two hours," Snape replied. "If we're lucky."

Sirius choked and dropped his match. "What?" He gasped.

"I cannot stress how stupid you are to me," Snape said, leering at Sirius. "Are you deaf? I did not mumble. It will take two hours to brew this potion."

"Then get on it!" Sirius shouted.

"Go and get me a cauldron from my closet," Snape said, laying out each of the ingredients.

"What should I do?" Ren asked quietly, looking around.

Remus gave her a small smile and sat next to her. "You don't need to do anything. Would you like me to see if what happened is anything I can cure."

She nodded and Remus took her long, pale leg onto his lap, examining her burns as Sirius returned with a cauldron, dropping it onto the counter before Snape, who glared and began chopping the first of his ingredients at a dangerous speed.

...

"Sirius...?"

"Hermione!"

Hermione felt something wrap tightly around her neck and she struggled for air, even though the arms of her best friend weren't all that tight in the first place. Her skin hurt and her chest burned. She coughed painfully.

"Where's Sirius?" She said hoarsely.

"He's out with some of the Order members getting ingredients for a potion that can fix you," Ginny said brightly. "Oh, I can't believe you're awake! You're going to be okay, you and your baby."

Hermione's eyes shot wide. "Baby?"

Ginny nodded vigorously. "Yes! Why didn't you tell me that you were pregnant?"

"I...didn't...know..."

Hermione's heart swelled at the prospect of a child. It had worked! Their trying had worked! Oh, she was just so happy and-

She doubled over, coughing violently, and blood covered her fingers and her sheets.

"Here, Hermione, let me help!"

"Dora?" Hermione croaked as Tonks came foreword with a cloth and wiped off Hermione's mouth and hands.

She nodded, her forehead crinkling in concentration as she cleaned the blood from Hermione's hands.

"She's nervous with Remus out," Ginny said. "But they'll all be okay. They'll be back any minute now with the potion, and then you'll be all better. Are you hungry? I'll go and find a healer."

Before Hermione could protest, Ginny was gone from the room. Hermione turned to Dora and rose her eyebrows. Dora offered a small smile and gave Hermione a very gentle hug. "She's trying to convince herself that everything will be okay," she whispered into Hermione's hair.

"Will everything be okay?" Hermione whispered.

Dora leaned back and stroked some of Hermione's hair back from her face. "I don't know. Hermione, if they don't make it back in the next hour, you'll..."

Dora couldn't get the words out as she began to cry violently. Hermione's throat went dry and she leaned back into her pillow, eyes wide with fear.

_I'm not ready to die! _She thought frantically. _I can't die! Everything that's happened...It would be so unfair for Sirius to give up his life, fall in love, and then lose me!_ She shook her head. _That's selfish. I shouldn't think that way. But didn't he say that if anything happened to me...?_

Ginny bounced into the room, closely followed by a healer carrying a bowl of soup and a blue slushie, picked out specifically by Ginny.

"Are you not hungry?" Ginny asked when she saw Hermione simply staring into the bowl.

"I don't want to die, Ginny," she said weakly, leaning back into her pillows.

Ginny took the tray off of the bed and set it on the ground, then sat down on the bed beside her, laying back on the pillow with her best friend. "Sirus won't let you die, Hermione."

"But...he's only human...what if-"

"Don't you _dare _talk like that, Hermione!" Ginny said vehemently. "Don't you _dare._ You'll be alright and you know you will!" Tears sparkled in her eyes. "Say it, Hermione. Say that you'll be okay." She choked up and finally sobbed, "_Say it!"_

Hermione was crying now, too. "Ginny..." she cried. "Ginny...I'm so scared..."

"No, Hermione!" She threw herself onto her knees. "Hermione, stay awake! No, stop it! No, keep your eyes on me!"

Hermione was fading quickly. She couldn't see anything. All she could do was hear and feel. Hear Ginny's crying and calls for a healer, the blood rushing noisily in her ears. Feel Ginny's violent shaking of her arms and the burn of her skin and her heart and in her veins...

She couldn't stay awake anymore.

The last thing she thought of was her baby. _Please...let baby be okay...I love you, baby..._

...

Sirius paced back and forth through the laboratory. Harry and Remus tried to stop his anxious tromping, but to no avail. He had too much stressed energy. He couldn't make himself stop moving. Ren watched, him as Remus healed her leg, worried she'd come with a crazy person.

"Snape, we've got ten minutes and our time will have been up," Sirius whispered darkly.

"I just need the tear." Snape was sweating from his efforts, from working so quickly.

Ren stepped gingerly on her leg as she slid off the counter and approached Snape. He nodded and backed away, allowing her to bend over the pot and cry gently into the murky liquid. Her crystal tears turned the potion a brown colour, a colour that nearly matched the eyes of the girl it would be used to help.

"It is finished," Snape said, exhaling slowly upon seeing it had worked. He waved his wand and the contents was emptied into a vial. He picked it up, and Sirius quickly ripped it from his hands, apparating as soon as it was in his hands to find Hermione.

...

"Ginny!" Sirius cried when he'd arrived.

She looked away from Hermione, her eyes puffy from crying, makeup streaking down her face.

Sirius choked and tried to swallow past his dried throat. "Is she...?"

Ginny shook her head. "She's got minutes left, Sirius."

Sirius ran to her side and forced her mouth open, pulling the stopper from the bottle.

"Wait!"

It was a healer who had rushed in at the loud noise. "We need to test it! We need to make sure-"

Sirius ignored him and threw the crystal stopper at the floor, causing it to explode in a sparkling dust.

And without any regard for the continued protests of the healer, Sirius dumped the contents of the potion down Hermione's throat, hoping and praying with all he had that he wasn't too late.

...

O.O

Whoa.

This is a pretty decent cliff-hanger, huh?

Well, you probably all hate me, but I'm only updating if I get reviews. ^^ Nah, I'll update anyways. Reviews just push the process along a little bit...


	25. Chapter 25

*Whoops! Just realised I didn't proofread. I think I got mostly everything.

Aloha!

Wow, I haven't used that word in a while.

Well, anyways...

...

Sirius watched with bated breath as the potion forced itself down Hermione's throat.

"Mr. Black!" The healer was still going on with his rant, and the noise was killing Sirius. Hermione still wasn't moving. Ginny was crying and shaking Hermione. Snape holding Ren, and Remus and Harry were apparating.

Sirius stood up and moved to the healer, an angry glint in his eyes as he pulled back his fist and released it with all of his pent up energy and stress. The healer went sprawling across the floor, but Sirius turned around, glad for a little bit more quiet, and he dropped beside Hermione.

"Come on, Hermione," he whispered against the skin of her neck. He kissed her all over. "Come on, love, you have to live. Hermione, I _love _you. Come on..."

There was a strange moving in her chest, but nothing else.

Sirius looked at her, shocked. It hadn't worked. He'd never expected that it wouldn't work.

"Hermione?" He breathed. A tear trickled down his cheek, and he realised she still wasn't awake.

_"Hermione!"_

...

_'Where am I...?'_

_The world around me is dark. There is nothing. I am floating in nothingness, wearing nothing, seeing nothing, hearing nothing but my own thoughts._

_There are sounds, now, loud sounds. They are hurting me. I want them to stop. It hurts. It's coming from my heart, the sounds of pain and tears._

_My eyes open. I look around. Black. It's all black. But...what's that?_

_I move my legs and find I can walk. I walk towards the small bundle and I cringe. It is hurt. I pick it up and cradle it. It is a baby._

_Baby... My baby._

_'I love you,' I whisper to my baby._

_There are more sounds, now. Loud sounds._

_"Hermione?"_

_Is that my name? I can't think of what my name is. It is shouted again. Tears are choking the voice of the screamer. They are in pain._

_Sirius? It is Sirius!_

_'I love you!' I cry to the ceiling._

_"Hermione...Hermione..."_

_I need to leave the black for Sirius!_

_There is a glimmer of light ahead, a blue light._

_I need to leave the black for my baby!_

_It is growing._

_But the screams in my heart grow angry. They are cries of protest, no longer of pain._

_I try to push them down. I need Sirius!_

_'Sirius...' I say. 'Help...'_

_It hurts again, in my heart, and I know I'm losing._

_But then I see Sirius in the black, and holding my baby..._

_I push down the pain, and the blue light explodes around me._

_I will come back for you, Sirius._

_I kiss my baby goodbye. 'I will see you,' I say. 'I love you, baby.'_

_And then the blue light carries me out of the black._

_..._

It hurt more than Sirius cared to admit. He felt no shame that all of those people were watching him sob. He couldn't take it. She just _couldn't_ be...she couldn't be...

He couldn't even think it.

Suddenly, he felt her move. There was a sort of cry, but it wasn't from her. It was from her heart.

_The squelch..._

Sirius removed himself from her chest and placed a hand on either side of her face. Her lips were forming words, but no sound came out.

"Hermione?"

She began to choke, but her eyes flew open, and she inhaled deeply, coughing and trying to suck in air.

"Hermione!"

Sirius threw his arms around her and held her close. "Hermione, love, don't you _ever_ scare me like that _again," _He whispered into her hair.

"I love you, Sirius..."

Sirius kissed her hard on the mouth.

Hermione peered up at him when he backed away and she wiped the tears from his eyes. She smiled.

Sirius pulled her tight against his chest and refused to let her go.

...

It took a while, but after everyone had expressed how glad they were that Hermione was okay, everyone was ushered out of the room. Everyone but Sirius, who absolutely refused to leave.

"Well, Hermione," said the healer who was now sporting a big black eye, "it appears the squelch has died and the potion removed all other traces of toxins or other potions. You are in no danger, but there is something..."

"What is it?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"We waited a very long time," the healer said, checking something on his clipboard. "I'm afraid that you might continue to have chest pains and get worn out easily. We've got a potion for it, but it won't cure you. And...I think that an abortion may be right in this case."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Never. There is absolutely no chance. I will _never_ give up my baby. I love him."

The healer nodded. "I understand, and I can't tell you that you need to, but it could be dangerous."

Hermione shook her head. "I don't care. I love my baby. I met him."

"You...what?"

"When I was dying," Hermione said. "I met my baby. Sirius, he's the greatest baby ever! He has your eyes."

Sirius smiled softly at her and squeezed the hand he was holding. All of the excursions from the day had tired him more than he'd been in a long time. He caressed her cheek. "That's wonderful, love."

Hermione turned back to the healer. "Can I go home now?"

The healer stood and nodded. "I'll go and get your potion. But you have to promise me you'll take it every day, and you won't do anything to over exert yourself. It would probably be best if you just stayed in bed until tomorrow."

Hermione nodded. "I promise."

He left and came back just a minute later.

Sirius thanked him and paid him for the potion, then apparated from St. Mungo's with Hermione in his arms. They were finally alone.

Sirius laid Hermione on her bed and gave her a proper dose of the potion. He then curled up beside her and held her close to him.

"Sirius," Hermione murmured against his lips, her hair tangled in his damp locks. "Why is your hair all wet?"

"Long story," Sirius told her with a small smile. He stroked her hair back and kissed her forehead. "Want to hear it?"

Hermione nodded vigorously and snuggled closer to Sirius as he told her the story of how they gathered the ingredients for her potion.

...

Sirius woke up the next morning with Hermione in his arms and automatically checked to see if she was still breathing, if her heart was still pounding. When he was satisfied that she was still alive, he slid her from his arms so he could go start on their breakfast.

"Sirius?"

Sirius jumped and nearly wet himself. "Merlin, Remus, don't sneak up on me like that!"

Remus chuckled and handed him a mug of coffee. "How is she?"

Sirius shrugged. "Alive. She's very tired."

"Speaking of very tired girls..." Remus nodded towards the couch and Sirius found Ren lying there, curled up in a little ball and wrapped in his still wet robes. Her knee length hair trailed over the side of the couch.

"I didn't know what you wanted me to do with her," Remus said. "I took her back to my house to get her something to eat and some warm clothes, but she fell asleep and hasn't woken up since."

"How long can a Siren stay out of water?" Sirius asked, sitting next to her.

Remus shrugged. "Forever."

Sirius nodded. "I guess I can keep her here. I don't see why not."

"Okay," Remus said, standing up. "I just thought I'd see what you wanted. Tell Hermione that I hope she gets well soon."

Sirius smiled. "Thanks, mate."

Remus nodded and apparated. The crack caused Ren to jump awake and look around.

Sirius smiled at her. "Hello."

"Where am I?" she asked, licking her full lips and peering around the room cautiously.

"You're at my house."

"House?"

Sirius nodded. "Would you like some warm clothes and something to eat? I'm sure Hermione has something you could borrow."

She nodded. "I do not want to be any trouble."

"None at all," Sirius said. "Do you need to use the restroom? You could take a shower if you'd like."

"Shower?"

Sirius nodded. "Or the bath. I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with everything about Sirens."

"What is a bath?"

Sirius smiled softly. "It's where you clean up. With water."

"Water?" Her eyes brightened.

He laughed. "Sure. I'll go start the bath." He gave her his coffee. "Here. Drink this. It'll warm you up."

She nodded and took a sip, cringing.

Sirius laughed. "Or not. I'll be right back."

She nodded and Sirius left to start a warm bath. He showed her how to wash her hair and her skin, got her a towel, and left her to it. Then he returned to his and Hermione's room to find her some clothes.


	26. Chapter 26

Yo, readers!

Bad news. I accidentally broke my laptop. Luckily, I can type on my iPod and post from my moms laptop, but it'll mean slower posts cuz we share the laptop and because I type slower on my iPod. So...yeah.

Here's the next chapter for you!

...

Sirius picked out a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt of Hermione's and brought it out to the living room before realising something. Undergarments...

Bracing himself, he opened Hermione's drawer and groaned. She had them folded all neatly. Maybe he could just reach in and...

*No, it couldn't work that way, could it?* The drawer cluttered to the floor, narrowly avoiding his toe, and its contents scattered everywhere. He turned to Hermione tearfully to see her moaning in her sleep and turning over gently. Sighing in relief, he knelt down and began picking everything up, hoping she wouldn't notice if be used magic to put everything back. He he was picking out something for Ren when he saw them.

The laciest, sexiest lingerie he'd ever seen in his life. And tangled up in it was a small, leather-bound book.

Tentatively, he picked it up. He couldn't help himself from imagining Hermione in it and had to quickly put it away to avoid an awkward EMHO, and he was immediately interested in the book. Hermione had a diary?

He wondered if she still wrote in it. She seemed to tell him everything, but what if there was something she didn't?

"Mm...Sirius?"

Sirius nearly exploded, and he began shoving things into the drawer at random, shoving Hermione's bra and underwear into his pocket for Ren and pushing the drawer back into the dresser as fast as he could, though he knew she had seen him, and he turned around guiltily.

She rose an eyebrow. "Sirius," she said in her high-pitched accusatory tone. "What are you doing with my underwear?" Her eyes widened and she blushed. "Did you see my-!"

He kissed her hard before she could continue. "It's so good to see you alive," he whispered. "I love you."

She tried to swallow as he ran his fingers through her hair. "I... Sirius?" She pushed away from him, eyes somewhere behind him. "Who's that?"

Sirius turned around and saw Ren standing in the doorway, hair sopping wet and in nothing but a towel.

"Oh-that's-"

"And why do you have my underwear in your pocket?" She demanded, jumping from the bed. She was obviously still very weak, though, for she wobbled a bit before Sirius could catch her and help steady her.

"She's Ren, Hermione-"

"Why is she naked?" she said angrily, crossing her arms.

Sirius looked down at the peeved girl in his arms. "You think we-" He couldn't help but bark a laugh. "Mione, love, she's just the girl who helped me."

"Is this your wife?" Ren asked, coming into the room. She stared into Hermione's face, making Hermione lean back awkwardly.

Ren smiled softly. "She is very beautiful. You are lucky man, Sirius."

Sirius grinned and squeezed Hermione tight. "I know. Here, Ren, I found something of Hermione's for you to wear until we can buy you something."

"Buy?"

Sirius handed her the undergarments and clothes. "Just go change and I'll explain later."

Ren nodded and stumbled off to the bathroom, still unsure about using her feet.

Sirius turned back to Hermione, who was watching Ren leave.

"She thinks I'm beautiful?" Hermione whispered.

Sirius laughed. "Who doesn't? And you're the most beautiful to me."

"But she's so..."

"Yeah, but all Sirens are," Sirius replied. "Humans aren't like that. They aren't automatically gorgeous, like you."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "That's not fair, and I'm not all that great."

"Yes," Sirius said, kissing her forehead. "You are. And how is that not fair?"

"Saying not all people are beautiful," Hermione replied, hugging Sirius and pulling herself to him. "Everyone can be beautiful, Sirius. Even if they're not on the outside, they can be on the inside."

Sirius sighed and stroked Hermione's hair. "Yes, well, I suppose you're right. Now. On to more important matters."

Hermione leaned her head back to look up at him.

"Breakfast?" He asked. "I'm starving."

Hermione giggled. "Sure, okay. Oh, and Sirius?" She asked before he left the room completely. He turned back. "What are we going to do with Ren?"

Sirius thought for a moment. "Well, I guess that all depends on wether or not she has anywhere to go."

Hermione nodded and turned away, searching for something to wear. She got to her underwear drawer and sighed when she saw the mess in here. She pulled out her diary and sighed again. Apparently, sexy lingerie wasn't enough to keep Sirius out. At least he hadn't read it-Hermione would have died from embarrassment. Of course, she told Sirius everything, but some of the stuff she wrote about...well, he was there for that, and she was sure she'd expressed her feelings over it just fine.

Shaking her head, she found a nice comfortable pair of sweats and a tank-top and left the room to find Sirius and properly introduce herself to Ren.

Ren was in the living room, legs crossed and brushing her long hair with a candelabra, and Sirius was watching her with an odd expression. Hermione giggled and retrieved her own brush from the bathroom, then sat down by Ren and took the end of her hair into her hands, brushing from the bottom up.

"Your hair is very beautiful," Hermione commented.

"I thank you," Ren replied.

Hermione smiled and continued brushing. She knew all about Sirens, knew how they prized their hair.

"How old is you?" Ren asked, struggling with her English.

"I'm seventeen," Hermione replied. "And you?"

"Is 15," Ren replied quietly.

Hermione's jaw dropped. "You're that young?"

Ren dipped her head.

"Wow," Hermione replied. "You seem so much more...mature."

"Siren's have not got childhoods, really," Ren replied timidly. "We are taught in our ways early on."

"That's sort of sad," Hermione replied quietly, pulling her brush through the girl's hair.

Sirius stood in the kitchen, cooking for them and listening quietly. He was glad they were getting along-he didn't know what was going to happen, but if Ren ended up staying, it would be good to know they wouldn't be at each other's throats all of the time.

"Girls!" Sirius called. "It's time for breakfast."

They came out a few minutes later, Hermione stumbling a little bit. Ren noticed this and helped her to the table. Sirius pulled out the chair for the both of them. Ren seemed confused as to what to do with the chair, but when she saw what Hermione was doing, she gently lowered herself into a sitting position.

Sirius set a plate in front of each of them and then sat down to his own food. Ren stared at her food and then picked up her fork, peering at that.

Hermione cleared her throat and pantomimes eating, a small smile on her face. Ren smiled back softly and took Hermione's advice, stabbing her eggs lightly and putting it into her mouth. She chewed for a second before her nose crinkled and she swallowed hard, pushing back the food.

"It is warm," she said, looking down her nose at the scrambled eggs.

Sirius laughed. "I'm sorry. What would you like to eat?"

"Fish?" She asked.

Sirius nodded. "Erm, sure. I think Remus dropped off a fish or two earlier."

Sirius pushed out of his chair and got a clean plate, then placed a full fish on the plate and set it in front of Ren. She looked at it excitedly and started to eat it with a fork, but eventually gave up, setting aside the fork and picking it up. Fangs grew in the place of her teeth and she bit into it hungrily, but oddly polite and neatly.

When breakfast was finished, they were all satisfied.


	27. Chapter 27

I'm so glad you all like Ren! I think she's just adorable. She doesn't know much about life above the water, and she was just learning about everything under water, so she's very confused right now. And because she was still being taught, she wasn't entirely sure about drowning men just to have your way with them, so she's not like that, either. Like it said when we first met her, she was pretty, but not in a seductive way.

Also, to you who have said this is the best you've read, thank you _so much!_ I can't even begin to thank you all enough, and I promise I'll keep it up and make sure this story is the best that it can be! ^^

...

"What are you planning on doing with her?"

"I don't know-adopt her?"

"But she could be my sister!"

"And I could be your father!"

"True..."

"Guys, focus!"

"Okay, well, we can't have her out on the street, and she doesn't want to go back to the ocean. She loves her legs too much."

Remus sighed and shook his head. That nights meeting was over, and Ren was sitting in the living room of Grimmauld Place with the other Order members. They were teaching her how to drink from a glass and eat with a fork. But Remus had kept Sirius and Hermione behind to try and figure out what they were going to do with the Siren, who could become potentially dangerous if she ever decided to start singing.

"She didn't live in the ocean, Sirius," Remus said. "She lived in a river. Be serious about this."

"I'm not going to be Remus about this."

Remus glared at him for a few moments as Hermione giggled.

"I think we should just let her live with us," Hermione said. "She's really nice and could never survive on her own."

"But Hermione," Remus sighed. "If she ever decided to start singing, she could accidentally seduce random men in the street. She could seduce Sirius and he might not be ready and wouldn't be able to help anything that might happen!"

"I know how to protect myself from a Siren's song now," Sirius said, wrapping an arm around Hermione and pulling her tight to his side. "It's not going to happen. She can sing by herself if she wants to. We could use that spell Snape used. We could use muffliato. Anything! Please let her stay?" He gave Remus puppy-dog eyes, very much looking like a boy who found a dog and wanted to keep it as his own.

Remus sighed. "Fine. But you'll have to accept the consequences of whatever might happen."

"Well, I trust Sirius," Hermione said. "And if he says he can handle it, then I can trust he means it."

Remus nodded, eyeing his best friend. "Yes, he has been rather trust-worthy lately. Well." He stood up. "Shall we have a drink, then?"

He led the two of them into the living room, where everyone was silent. The three who had just entered the room looked to where everyone else was gazing and saw that Ren had her hand on Ron's face, and Ron looked completely sober for the first time in far too long.

"Ren, what did you do?" Hermione breathed.

"I am healing him," Ren stated simply. "He is hurt, is he not?"

"Well, sort of..."

"Who is this chick?" Ron breathed when she removed her hand. "I think I love her."

Mrs. Weasley burst into tears and wrapped her arms around her son tightly. "Oh, Ronald! Do you remember what happened? Do you remember anything?"

Ron thought for a moment. "Not really...I mean, I remember I was in the Amazon, and then I was helping Hermione but my spell backfired and...everything else is blurry like...like I've been drunk non-stop for the past few weeks."

Mrs. Weasley chuckled lightly. "Who here is brave enough to tell Ron what's happened since he got perpetually drunk?"

Ron's ears were redder than his hair.

Hermione cleared her throat awkwardly. "Er...I think I should probably do that."

Ron's eyes jumped to Hermione's excitedly. It was then that he noticed Sirius, and where his arms were, and how Hermione was reacting to his touch.

He noticed how Sirius dipped his head to her ear and said, "Do you want me to help you?"

Hermione quickly shook her head. "No. I think I have to do this by myself."

Sirius nodded and let Hermione go forward and take Ron's hand, leading him to the kitchen, followed by a very awkward silence. Hermione stumbled a little.

"Ron, boy, help Hermione, will you?" Sirius said, concerned. "Let her lean on you-yeah, like that."

"Why do you need helping?" Ron asked worriedly.

Hermione sighed. "Right after you got knocked out, I was...well..."

He rose his eyebrows, but listened as Hermione told the story of her illness, of the potion and the squelch, and how she would be pretty weak for a couple of weeks, but the potion would help cut down on her symptoms.

"That Ren girl, can't she fix this?" Ron asked her.

Hermione shook her head. "No, her tears are what got me this far. I'm incurable."

Hermione saw a tear trickle down Ron's face. She leaned forward to wipe it off, and Ron rose his hand to keep hers there. "It's my fault."

Hermione's eyes widened. "No! No, it's not your fault, Ron! If anything, it's my fault because it's my fault you got hurt."

Ron shook his head. "You couldn't have had any way of knowing that my spell would have backfired."

"_I _should have watched _your _back, too!" Hermione exclaimed. She sighed. "But Ron...there's more."

Her right hand was pressed to his face. She lifted her left hand and showed him her wedding band and her engagement ring.

His jaw dropped as he took her hand, gazing at the black rock and golden band resting on her thin fingers. "Hermione, you're married?"

"There was a marriage law, Ron!" She said, tears filling up her eyes. "I had to marry a pureblood or I would have been thrown in jail. I didn't want to; I mean it! I swear, Ron, I would have married you, but you..." She took a shaky breath.

His eyes shut and he dropped her hand. "Ron?" She whispered.

"Who is he?"

"Promise you won't be angry with him?"

"Hermione, _who is he?"_

"Sirius."

His eyes opened and his jaw set. He stood up.

"No, wait, Ronald!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "Please, Ron! I love him!"

He stopped midstep on his way to the living room. He turned to her, looking down on her as she gripped his arm.

_"What?" _He hissed.

"I _love _him, Ronald," she whispered, feeling a tear run down her cheek. "And Ron...I'm _pregnant."_

This seemed to fuel his anger even further. He shook her off. Hermione landed on her bottom with an _"Oof!" _and Ron stormed into the living room and right up to Sirius, ready to punch him in the face. Sirius caught his fist and with a dead expression said, "You're only going to embaress yourself, mate."

"You can't have her!" Ron shouted. "Hermione is mine!"

Sirius smirked. "Really? Because I'm pretty sure she's married to _me, _and she's carrying _my _child. Not yours."

Something flashed in Ron's eye as he pulled back his other fist and it connected with Sirius' jaw.

"Ronald!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, but no one else said a thing as Ron gave Sirius one last glare from where he stood over Sirius, who was now on the floor, and stormed past everyone, up the stairs, and to his bedroom.

Hermione ran to Sirius and took his face in her hands. "Are you okay?" She whispered, kissing his face.

He nodded, propping himself up on one elbow. "That kid really packs a punch, I tell ya..."

Hermione sighed and stood up. "Harry?"

Harry glanced at her from where he was standing solemnly beside Remus.

"Will you come with me to make sure he's okay?"

Harry smiled softly and nodded, and they climbed the stairs together to check on their best friend.

...

Hope you liked it! If you didn't see, I posted a story called "She couldn't help it, I couldn't help it," and it's partially based off of this. It's a one-shot. Go ahead and check it out! ^^

Well, I'm going to go watch Scooby-Doo Spooky Island and eat a peanut butter and chocolate syrup bagel. Happy reading! ^^


	28. Chapter 28

This has got to be my longest story yet, both word and chapter wise. This is My World has one chapter more, and it's still going, but the chapters for this one are way longer! I feel kinda proud of myself, not gonna lie. ^^

...

"Hey, Ron?" Harry called, knocking lightly on the door. "Open up, mate, I need to get my Quidditch Through the Ages copy to prove something to Sirius."

The door creaked open a notch. It was just enough to see Ron was decent and they could burst through the door without having too much guilt.

"Ronald, please, will you listen to me?" Hermione said quietly, pushing past Harry.

He turned away and sat down on the window bench, presumably where he'd been before they interupted, tossing a small ball at the wall and catching it when it came back. "Listen to what? You're married and pregnant, I'm pretty sure any other explaining is pointless."

"It wasn't my fault, Ronald!" Hermione cried. "Please, you have to believe that I did not want to marry him! I hated him the whole first half of our marriage! All I wanted was to marry you!" Hermione didn't know if that was true, but if it convinced Ron, then by now, she'd say anything.

He glanced at her a moment before looking away. "Well, it's too late now."

Hermione had dropped to her knees. "I know."

"You love him?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes, I do."

"Like you loved me."

A tear trailed down her cheek and she didn't answer.

Ron sighed, a painfilled sound, and let the ball drop, not bothering to catch it. He stood up and put his hands in his pockets.

Hermione started coughing from the effort of crying and apologising. Ron was alarmed at the sight of blood on her teeth. Something seemed to crack and he was suddenly crying and on his knees, too, holding Hermione and kissing her hair.

"I love you so much, Hermione," he whispered.

"I know, Ron," she whispered back. "I love you, too."

"But not like you love Sirius?"

Hermione cried harder at that because she knew he was right and she couldn't help it.

"Are you alright?" he asked, holding her face. He took one hand out of her hair to touch her lips and looked at the blood now on his fingers.

Hermione nodded, wheezing. She managed to catch her breath. "I'm fine," she said, nodding.

"Here, let me get you a towel." He stood up and moved to go get one from the wash-room, but Harry was standing in the doorway, already holding one. "Thanks, mate," Ron said, moving to take it.

Harry shook his head and handed it to Hermione. Ron gave him a strange look, but didn't say anything, Harry choosing to give Ron a _proper_ talking to later.

"I'm going to go get some water," Hermione said, standing.

Harry nodded. "Want me to go with you?"

Hermione shook her head. "Only if you want to." She left, then, leaving Ron and Harry behind.

Ron moved to follow her, but Harry blocked his way.

"What's up, mate?" Ron asked, confused.

"Don't do it, Ron."

Ron looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do," Harry said vehemently. "Ron, don't try to win Hermione over from Sirius. You'll only confuse her, and Sirius and Hermione are so good for each other. She's not like how she was with you when she's with him."

"What are you even talking about?" Ron crossed his arms and returned to his window bench.

"You know what I'm talking about!" Harry exclaimed, trying his hardest not to yell. "When you left us searching for Horcruxes, Ron! She was crushed and never the same after that! She never learned to trust _anyone_ but me after that! She never trusted _you _after that, which why she wasn't as sad as she should have been when you were cursed. You saw it, too, how she refused to get close to you."

"What does that have to do with _anything?" _Ron hissed.

"She trusts Sirius," Harry stated. "She trusts that he won't leave her, she trusts that he won't give up on her, and she trusts that he loves her."

"But I would never do any of those things!" Ron exclaimed.

"It doesn't matter," Harry replied. "Because you broke her trust once and she was still trying to find reasons to trust you again."

Ron looked away from Harry completely, out the window. He didn't say anything. Harry knew he knew he was right.

"So please, Ron," Harry said. "Don't try and win her from Sirius, because you'll confuse her and hurt her."

"With the way you're talking, you'd think you loved her," Ron retorted.

"Maybe I used to love her!" Harry asserted. "Maybe I did have feelings for her, but she chose you. Maybe I realised that she needed a protective and loving brother figure, and that was me. Maybe that's how I feel now. I'm her brother, Ron, and I won't let you hurt her."

Ron looked at Harry, jaw dropped. "I'm sorry, mate. I never knew."

"It doesn't matter, Ron, because I love her like my sister," Harry replied, turning away. "Besides, I've got Ginny."

Ron groaned. "I forgot you guys are getting married."

Harry smirked. "Bye, Ron."

...

Harry found Hermione in the kitchen, drinking a glass of water with Sirius wrapping his arms around her waist. He smiled, glad he'd told Ron what he had.

...

Hermione lay curled up on the bed, thinking about her and Ron's conversation. She sighed-he had been so hurt.

"Hermione?" Sirius called.

"Yes?"

"Can you come and show Ren how to brush her teeth? I have to set up her bed."

Hermione smiled and got off of her bed. Ren was sitting on the toilet, staring at the tooth brush in her one hand and the toothpaste in the other. She showed Ren how to put the toothpaste on the toothbrush, and then how to work it into her very sharp teeth. Taking care of Ren would be fun, Hermione decided. And it would be good practice for the little boy or girl growing inside of her.

"You are sad?"

Hermione looked up at Ren and dabbed a towel at Ren's mouth, where she had missed with the toothbrush. She shook her head. "No, not sad. I'm _happy."_

"Happy?"

Hermione nodded.

"But crying?"

Hermione smiled. "They're happy tears," she replied. "I'm just so happy right now..."

"Ron was not happy."

Hermione paused in helping Ren clean up. "No, he wasn't."

"He sad about you with Sirius?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes. Ron and I used to date before he got...sick."

"Date?"

Hermione smiled and explained everything. She found it comforting to have someone to talk to and explain things to. She could always talk to Ginny or Harry or her journal about Sirius and Ron, but it felt nice to be able to explain things to someone who would believe every word she said.

Hermione picked up her hair brush and took Ren out to the living room and brushed her hair, all the while explaining things about her life.

She took a deep breath when she'd finished. "So, how has your life been?"

Ren seemed startled that Hermione would ask such a question.

"I am Princess Ren of Sirena," she began. Hermione rose her eyebrows, but allowed her to go on. "I live with Mother Pearl who trains in the ways of the Siren."

Hermione listened, fascinated by Ren's life story. She had tried running away from Mother Pearl numerous times after seeing how the other Siren's treated men, which ultimately resulted in the death of the men. She listened how Ren was always injured and forced to return home, how she once fell in love with a man but knew that if she were to sing to him, he would die.

"Hermione, Ren?"

"Yeah, Sirius?" Hermione called.

"Ren's bed is done."

"Good!" Hermione stood up and she and Ren walked to the closet, which Sirius had magically enlarged. After Ren was tucked in, Hermione and Sirius retreated to their bedroom and talked late into the night. Hermione couldn't remember the last time she'd talked so much about herself, but it was comforting, and soon, she fell into a deep sleep.

...

Meh, I liked how it started out, but as it went on I didn't like it much...

Your thoughts?


	29. Chapter 29

Sorry about this, people...

...

As the weeks wore on, Sirius, Hermione, and Ren all got used to having each other in their lives. Hermione took Ren shopping for clothes and shoes and anything else she may have needed. Hermione definitely enjoyed spending time with her, but she loved spending most of her time with Sirius. It was different having someone living with her and Sirius, though; someone else to cook for and greet in the morning.

They found Ren enjoyed spending time with the other Order members, but she had no interest in joining the Order. Remus thought it was dangerous to have someone not a member listen to all of their meetings, but Hermione assured him that Ren understood very little, and though she was getting a lot smarter, she had no one to tell of their plans, and no reason to on top of that. So Ren was allowed to stay, and it wasn't long before both Hermione and Ginny realised something.

Though Ron had taken to heart what Harry had said and tried to keep his feelings away from Hermione, he couldn't help but make sure she was always okay, make sure she was comfortable, and make sure she always had company in between conversations at the meetings. He obviously still loved her, but was trying very hard not to act on it.

But Hermione normally had Ren with her, trying to make sure she stayed away from things she didn't understand before they could be properly explained and boundarys could be established, such as fire and knives and Snape's Grimmauld Place potion stock. Ron seemed to take a lot of interest in the pretty young Siren, always including her in conversations and asking her lots of questions.

Hermione and Ginny noticed this, and decided to leave them be; for while Ren was completely oblivious, it at least gave Ron something to do, someone to have an interest in.

Hermione was going through some odd changes as well by this time, too. She and Ginny bought her new clothes considering her current ones were by far too small. Sirius was really nice about all of it-he made several trips in the middle of the night to buy ice-cream sandwiches or cheese balls or marshmallows just to curb her odd cravings. He put up with her terrifying mood swings, laughing with her one minute, hugging her as she cried the next, and then trying not to die when she went to the kitchen for the knives.

He seemed genuinely excited for the baby as well, despite his proclamations on how awful he'd be as a father. He wanted to name it Tallulah if it was a girl, and Charlie if it was a boy. Hermione thought that neither name fit well, and decided that she liked Tamra for a girl and Harry for a boy. Sirius didn't mind the Harry, not in the least bit.

One night, they were lying in bed, and Hermione was staring up at the ceiling while Sirius doodled on her growing belly. "Do I need to get a job so we can buy a new house so baby Harry can fit?"

Sirius chuckled and kissed a heart he'd just traced. "Of course not, sweetheart. Unless you want one. Then you can work to your hearts content."

Hermione sighed. "I don't know...I really wanted to become a healer."

Sirius shrugged. "You're still young and you just graduated. Why not? But you don't have to start training right away."

Hermione nodded and rolled over onto her sighed to kiss Sirius on the nose. "I love you."

He chuckled again and kissed her on the lips. "I love you, too, silly. What's Ren doing?"

"She was having a sleepover with Ginny," Hermione replied, grimacing. "I'm a little concerned about the influence Ginny might have on her."

Sirius laughed and rolled onto his back. "Yeah, we might need to be a little worried. But I'm sure she'll be just fine. Ronald Weasley will be there. Maybe he'll finally get some."

Hermione glared and rolled away from him.

"Did I say something wrong?" Sirius asked softly. Hermione felt his hand on her arm.

"Just because I have some self-respect doesn't mean you can go on about how Ron needs to _get some."_

Sirius was beyond confused before he realised. Hermione had been his girlfriend, hadn't wanted to go all the way. Sirius groaned inwardly at his mistake. Hermione was crankiest at night.

"I'm sorry, love," Sirius whispered into her ear. "You know I didn't mean it. I love you..." He nuzzled her ear.

Hermione burst into tears. "I'm sorry!" She cried. "I just can't help it! Don't let me yell at you!" She turned around and began poking him in the chest. "Don't let me yell at you! Make me be quiet! Tell me to-"

Sirius stopped her endless flow of words with his lips. Hermione stopped and fell into a totally content mood, curling up beside Sirius and falling quickly asleep. Sirius sighed. Such an odd experience...

...

Sirius jerked awake to a scream coming from the bathroom. "Hermione?" He called.

He was replied to with another scream. He threw aside his blanket and stumbled to the bathroom as quickly as he could. There was a puddle of blood by the door that he barely dodged, and he didn't think twice before kicking the door open and rushing directly to his wife, who was curled up in the corner, a trail of blood from her to the bathtub.

"Hermione, what's going on?" Sirius asked desperately, crouching beside her and holding her face. He kissed her forehead. "Sweetheart, you need to tell me what happened."

"Bathtub," she whimpered. It was barely audible, but Sirius heard.

His hand shaking, he pulled back the curtain.

He threw up, grateful to be right beside the toilet. In the bathtub, in a puddle of blood, was what would have been baby Harry.

Sirius took off his shirt and lifted it up out of the tub. He knew before even checking that the baby was gone. Tears were blurring his vision, but he had to stay strong for Hermione. He helped her to her feet and kissed her face. "Hermione, can you apparate to St. Mungo's for me, sweetheart?"

She shook her head. Her legs were shaking like mad and blood was still streaming down her legs. Sirius picked her up like a toddler in his other arm and apparated them to St. Mungo's.

"Please," Sirius said, barely able to form the words. "Miscarriage. Please."

...

Hermione stared at the white walls with a dead expression. Sirius was on the bed beside her, kissing her and brushing back her hair and holding her hand, but she barely noticed he was there. What did she do wrong? She'd gotten all of the proper care, eaten only what would be good for her and her baby; she hadn't done anything wrong if she really thought about it. Nothing at all.

Her eyes wouldn't let her cry anymore. Her heart had been ripped out, and with it went all of her tears. She wasn't feeling anything but anger and confusion right now, but it hardly rivaled how angry Sirius was with himself. He'd waited too long to get the potion. He knew it. It was his fault. The healers had been unable to explain what had killed their baby. But Sirius knew without an explanation that it was his fault, that it was on him for not getting her the cure within the time limit. He'd almost lost Hermione, and now his baby was gone.

Someone from the ministry stopped in and told them they had one more chance. Hermione wasn't even listening. Sirius had a suspicion that she didn't even have any idea that the man was still there. Sirius barked at him to leave. He had no patience for the gits at the ministry who were putting his Hermione through the most awful days of her entire life. Not only was she forced to be married to him, she'd almost died and lost a child.

Hermione suddenly started crying.

Sirius wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest, resting his chin in her pretty hair. The healers had said she was okay, but pretty worn out, as was how it had been lately, anyways.

"Mr. Black?" Sirius looked up from his sobbing love to the same blond healer from all those months ago.

"What?" He didn't mean to snap, but he had a lot of odd emotions going through him and he didn't care.

"Can I speak to you, please?"

"Go ahead," he replied, looking back down at Hermione.

"Er, okay," she replied, tucking some hair behind her ear as she looked down at her clipboard. "Mr. Black, Mrs. Black, we feel it'd be best if you did not try again."

Sirius' eyes snapped back to hers. "So you're saying Hermione should be thrown in prison, is that it?"

"Even if that's what it comes down to, isn't it better than death?"

"Anythings better than Azkaban!" Sirius shouted at her. "Just leave us alone. I would never let Hermione die. Ever. Hermione is so strong."

"I know you may think that, Mr. Black-"

"I don't just think that," he growled. "I know that. Leave. Us. Alone."

"I'm sorry, but it's my job," the healer replied. "Hermione was weakened by this a great amount. We're not sure if she'd be able to handle it again."

"What do you think, Hermione?" Sirius asked her quietly.

Hermione tried to smile at him. "We should try again," she whispered.

"There you have it," Sirius replied. "She says we should try again, we're trying again, and that's that."

The healer struggled to find something to say for a moment before she finally sighed and gave up.

"I love you, Hermione," Sirius whispered.

She looked up at him. Sirius' heart broke at the look in her eyes. She nodded and half-smiled with almost no emotion. "Me too."

...

Ugh. I hate myself for this, too. But it had to be done. Trust me on this. I've already got the entire story planned out, so I know what I'm doing..

I hope.


	30. Chapter 30

30 chapters! Whoo! And 4 away from 200 reviews! Holy cow! I'm so happy right now, you have no idea! ^^

...

When Hermione dropped to her knees in front of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry's first thought was that Sirius had actually left her. He immediately felt guilty when he had Hermione on his lap with a cup of tea and she explained to him what had happened.

"I'm _so_ sorry, Hermione," Harry whispered. "I don't know what to say."

Hermione didn't reply, just sniffed and wiped her eyes, snuggling deeper into Harry's embrace. Harry sighed. "Where's Sirius?"

Hermione sniffed and tried to talk. "With Remus," she replied, her voice thick with tears. "He spent the last five hours listening to me cry and I told him to take a break. He didn't want to, but I made him. But I couldn't stand being alone, Harry."

He held her a little tighter. "I'm sorry, Mione. How about I take your mind off of it?"

Hermione's breath shuddered. "How?"

"Hm...how about I try out some jokes?" Harry asked. "Let's see...Why was the Energizer bunny arrested?"

Hermione sighed. "Why?"

"He was charged with _battery."_

Hermione cracked a small smile.

"Why does Waldo wear stripes? He didn't want to be _spotted."_

Hermione's smile got a little bigger with every lame joke.

"A chicken, a rabbi, and a duck walk into a bar. The bartender looks up and says, 'What is this? A joke?'"

Hermione gave a small giggle.

Harry laughed softly and sighed. "Do you need anything?"

Hermione shook her head, content to just be with Harry. "Thank you, Harry. I really do love you."

He smiled and gave her a small squeeze. "I love you, too, Mione."

They sat in silence for a few moments, alone with their thoughts. "Where is everybody?" Hermione asked, suddenly realising she and Harry were the only people there.

"Remus is with Sirius, Mrs. Weasley went out with Mr. Weasley for the night, the twins are at work, and Ron took Ginny and Ren shopping," Harry replied, absently stroking her hair.

"That's right," Hermione said. "How am I going to tell Ren? She was so excited for the baby."

"I'm sorry, Mione. You're free to stay the night here if you want. If you want to be around people, I mean," Harry told her.

"Thanks, Harry," Hermione said gratefully. "Everyone else would have thought I don't want to be around people."

"Will you stay?" He asked hopefully.

Hermione nodded and smiled. "Yes. What time is it?"

Harry glanced at his watch. "About 8:30."

Hermione jumped off of his lap and looked around. "I'll be right back, okay? I need to go tell Sirius. He'll probably want to stay, too."

Harry nodded and offered a warm smile before she apparated out of Number 12 and back to her flat.

"Sirius?" She called. She didn't see or hear him. Making her way to the kitchen, she noticed something on the coffee table.

_My dear Hermione,_

_I may be out later than expected. Some friends I haven't seen in a while just showed up, and I want to tell them all about you. I promise I'll be home soon-I don't think I can stand to be away from you much longer. Please don't be sad, love. I promise I'll make everything better. I swear it._

_By the way, I left a few potions the healers gave us. Most of it is just restocking your usual, but there's more for if you're feeling any other weakness or pain. Don't forget to take your pills and the blue potion, love. You've been forgetting a lot lately._

_Stay safe and I love you more than I could ever say._

_Love, Sirius._

Hermione smiled and shoved the letter between the pages of her diary before ripping a clean page and quickly leaving a note saying where she was and that she really hoped he'd come. She changed into her pyjamas, grabbed a few things for the morning, along with her potions and pills, and apparated to Number 12 once again.

She found Harry in the kitchen when she went to get a glass of water to wash down her medicine. She swallowed the pill first, then her blue potion for her cough, the green for blood loss if she did cough, and the yellow for soreness and headaches and chest pain. She didn't know what the last one was for, the extra given her by Sirius, but she took a proper dose of that and followed it with water, rinsing the vile taste of each potion from her mouth in several swigs.

"Oh, Mione," Harry said, shaking his head. "You've got so many problems." But he was grinning.

Hermione laughed a little and rolled her eyes. "I know. Just blame that ministry you hate so much."

Harry smiled at the sound of her laughter. "Don't worry, I hate them enough for both of us."

Hermione smiled and nodded. "Thanks for having me, Harry."

Harry ruffled her bangs. "Of course, Mione. You're always welcome."

Hermione gave him a hug. "I hope you don't mind if I go to sleep now. The potion for potential blood-loss makes me a bit drowsy."

"Not at all," Harry replied, hugging her back and kissing her forehead. "You can have Sirius' room. Come with me."

Hermione nodded and quickly slid her potions into her bag before following after him, up the stairs and to Sirius' old bedroom.

It looked the same as the first time she'd been in there-muggle posters of girls on motorcycles, pictures of James and Remus and Peter, even some of Lily and other people from Hogwarts, from the previous Order. It was very messy. She could hardly make it to the bed, the only thing clean about the room.

Sighing contentedly, she curled up beneath the blankets of Sirius' old bed and her eyes slid closed.

"'Night, 'Mione," Harry whispered before the door closed. "Love you."

"I love you, too, Harry," Hermione quickly replied before the room was dark and she was falling asleep.

...

Sirius apparated home at about ten. He couldn't stand being away from Hermione, especially not after what had gone on that day. He found her note on the coffee table and immediately apparated to Number 12 in search of his wife.

Harry was sitting in the living room, rereading the days prophet, always double checking to make sure no one he knew was in the obituaries.

Harry gave him a quick smile. "Your room."

Sirius nodded and smiled back. "Thanks, mate."

Without waiting another moment, Sirius climbed the stairs and opened the door to his bedroom. Hermione appeared to be asleep, but Sirius was sure she wasn't when he heard a slight sniffle. Putting on a brave face, Sirius marched into the room, trying not to trip over the piles of garbage and useless junk he really needed to remember to pick up sometime soon, trying to make his way to his wife. He pulled off his shoes and jacket and got under the blankets beside her, wrapping an arm around her, pulling her close. She turned over in his embrace and he saw she was crying. She buried her face in his chest, her sobs so hard it was nearly noiseless.

"Oh, Hermione," he whispered. "Everything's going to be alright. I promise you, I'll make sure of it. In the end, everything will be okay." He kissed her face. "Come, now. It's alright. I love you."

He continued kissing her hair, her face, and she continued to cry, until she'd finally drifted off to sleep, Sirius not too long behind her.

...

Hm...

I wonder what will happen next?

Well, not really. I know exactly what will happen next. ;)

But you don't, so you should review and tell me what you think will happen. Or tell me what you would like to happen. Or just give me your thoughts on the story. Completely up to you. ^^


	31. Chapter 31

**_AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!_** You guys are the best! Over 200 reviews! My hearts gonna blow up.

Oh, my gosh, guys. I have so much planned for this story. You have no idea. This is the most I've ever put into a fanfiction, ever. I mean, just look at how complicated The Life Project got. Think bigger. I wasted a whole three pages in my Daily Writer Journal for this story! Not that it was a waste, because I'm _soooo _excited for the rest of this story! I can hardly wait to get there, but I'll try to pace myself. ^^

...

Hermione woke up to loud fighting the next morning. Sirius was already awake, but he had left a sweet note on her pillow, explaining that if he was not there when she woke up, it was because he was still out getting something for her.

Hermione smiled and slid the note in her pocket, loving to save every scrap of paper Sirius poured his heart into. She stepped lightly down the stairs, feeling a dull ache in her heart that she hoped she could simply cover with a cup of coffee for a little while. She stopped dead in her tracks when her ears picked up what exactly was being aruged over.

"Ronald, have a heart!" Ginny was shrieking. "You can't stay and comfort a friend for just one day? You're one of her best friends! Just say how sorry you are and that you love her and that everything is going to be alright!"

"I don't want to see her," Ron said grumpily. "I don't want to have to lie. You know how much I hated that she was going to have Sirius' kid."

"Ron, you heartless jerk!" Ginny screamed.

Hermione came down just in time to see her burst into tears inside Harry's embrace.

Everyone turned to stare at her, standing awkwardly at the bottom of the stairs with eyes red from crying, hair a disaster and still in her pajamas.

"Oh, er...goodmorning, Mione," Ron said, shoving his hands inside his pockets.

"Where's Sirius?" She whispered, trying to clear her throat so she could speak louder, clearer, and maybe keep herself from crying. Was that really how Ron felt? He hated her baby just because it wasn't his? She blinked back tears. Thinking about it now when she didn't have Sirius and the privacy of her own bedroom could end embarassingly.

"He went to get you something for breakfast," Harry spoke up from where he was cradeling Ginny, who had turned to look at Hermione as if she might blow up any second.

Suddenly, Hermione felt skinny, strong arms wrap tightly around her waist. Ren started sobbing. "You will not having baby Harry?" She cried. "Why?"

Hermione sniffed, her eyes stinging. "Baby Harry was sick, Renny."

Ren sniffed. "Ron sick when I first saw him?"

"No, not exactly," Hermione replied, stroking the distraught Siren's hair gently. "Like when I had a cough, or back when you had that cold. Remember?"

Ren nodded. "But Harry say you have can new Baby Harry."

Hermione nodded. "That's right. Why don't you go do your reading lesson?"

Ren nodded again and pulled away to go and find her book, curling up on the couch. Her eyebrow creased as she struggled to understand the English language, which she knew little of, and only enough to speak to men before she killed them.

Sirius apparated after a few silence filled seconds, in which Ron was trying to think of a way to ask how much Hermione had heard, Ginny was searching for a way to apologise for her idiot brother, and Harry was looking for a way to change the subject.

"Oh, good, love, you're awake," Sirius said breathlessly. He handed her a steaming mug of coffee and she smiled at him, taking a sip. Her favourite.

"Thank you, Sirius," she whispered, stepping forward into his arms. He set her breakfast on a table and hugged her for a few minutes, whispering things into her ear that no one else could hear.

He took her to the kitchen and handed her the omelet and chocolate chip muffin he had gotten for her. She hardly ate any of her omelet, and chose to just pick the little melted bits of chocolate from the muffin with her fork, absently eating that and sipping her coffee while everyone around her avoided the subject of what had happened the day before.

"Do you want to go?"

Hermione looked over her shoulder at Sirius, who was kneeling beside her. His eyes seemed as sad as she felt, maybe even more sad.

She nodded and he helped her from her chair. Hermione went upstairs to get her things while Sirius said goodbye for himself and for Hermione before they left. Hermione stopped before she crashed into someone in the hallway. It was Ron, coming down for breakfast.

"Oh, hey Hermione," He said softly.

"Ron," she replied quickly, before darting into Sirius' room and finding her bag on the floor. She ran downstairs and Sirius apparated them home, along with Ren. Hermione was grateful for the privacy of her own home, even if she had to curl up in the bathroom with her diary to be all by herself. She was horrified to find the bathtub still bloodied. She turned the water on and let it run, hoping the others believed her to be in the shower, while really, she was writing out all of the feelings she couldn't bring herself to say to anyone, not even Sirius.

...

Over the next few weeks, Sirius began to grow frustrated. Hermione barely said a single word to her, not more than was necessary and, when she needed comfort, a pain-filled, "I love you." It was now that he wished she had a job, something to take her mind off of what had happened. She spent most of her time throwing herself into either Ren's studies, the beginning to her healer training, and her bloody diary, the only thing he saw could bring a content sort of look to spread across her face. Every night he held her until she fell asleep, not saying a single word, hoping she would talk when she was ready.

All he wanted to do was help, and she wouldn't tell him anything, not one word. She wouldn't tell him how she was feeling, so he had no way of comforting her, besides the generic "I love you," and "Everything will be alright," and "He's in a better place."

She wouldn't even say anything to Harry, which was when he knew he needed to take things into his own hands. Harry was Hermione's very best friend, next to her husband, of course, and if she wouldn't talk to him, then they were in serious trouble.

Ginny took Hermione to the spa that day. Hermione was incredibly stress and found herself breaking down from it all at the most unreasonable times, so she'd agreed.

And Sirius found he was lucky when he saw that she kept her diary in the same place. His heart clenched. It was probably because she trusted him enough not to take it.

He shook his head. She would understand if he told her that it was for her that he was doing this, that he was only trying to help.

He almost regretted reading it when he skipped to the entries he was looking for-he knew that she'd never trust him again if he read something he knew he didn't have to read. It was so heart-stabbingly, gut-wrenchingly sad that he almost threw up. He was crying before he was two paragraphs in. Hermione was so upset about losing her baby, and she felt it was all her fault, which was eating away at her. She didn't know how to get rid of the guilt, and she didn't want to upset Sirius by telling him any of the things he was currently reading about. She had written about all of the things she'd hoped to do with her new baby, and all of the things she had been so excited to see Sirius do with him.

He was so distraught that he hadn't the time to shut the book and make up a proper excuse when Hermione apparated into the room.

"Sirius?" She whispered, tears springing to her eyes.

"Hermione, I-"

Before he could blink, she had thrown her bag at him, grabbed the diary, and ran, sobbing, to lock herself in the bedroom.

...

I recently got a review asking if I could make it happier soon. Um...you can look forward to happiness...in the future? Sorry! We've gotta get through the sad stuff to make the ending so explosively happy that your excited little heads blow up! ^^


	32. Chapter 32

"Hermione, please open the door?"

All he got in reply were a few heart-breaking sobs.

"Hermione, love, please?"

"I trusted you!" She cried. "I thought you respected me!"

"I was only trying to help, love!" Sirius called, glad she was finally speaking to him again. "You wouldn't talk to me so I couldn't help you!"

"Maybe I didn't want help!"

Sirius felt himself growing angry, despite himself. "I wasn't going to sit around and let you be depressed! It's time you moved on, Hermione, and I just wanted to help!"

Hermione went back to not answering him again, giving him only the sound of her tears.

Sirius made a conflicted growl before he grabbed his jacket and his keys, apparating to Number 12. Once there, he got on his bike and drove, no clue where he was going and no cares about why he should return.

Hermione, though, knew that she'd made a fatal mistake in getting so upset over this. She began hyperventalating as she looked all over the flat, pulling open the doors to closets and to the flat before she dropped to her knees in the centre of the dining room, scaring Ren half out of her wits. She was crying so hard she was nearly shrieking.

Hermione heard a crack and jumped around, hoping Sirius had come back.

"Hermione, you left your...oh, my Godric, Hermione..."

It was Ginny. Hermione flung her arms around her friends neck and sobbed into her shoulder. She couldn't even form proper words.

_He left me... He left..._

"Come on, Hermione, let's go to Harry's new house," Ginny whispered, stroking Hermione's hair. "Ren? I'll be back for you in a few minutes. Can you put your homework away and put Hermione's medicine in your backpack, and be ready for me in five minutes?"

Ren nodded and pried her eyes away from Hermione long enough to begin putting her things in her little book-bag. Ginny gathered Hermione in a tight embrace and apparated to the house Harry had purchased recently, ready for when Ginny and he were officially married.

Harry nearly fell out of his chair when he saw the two of them. Ginny helped Hermione onto the couch. "I have to go get Ren," Ginny whispered, kissing Harry's cheek.

He nodded. "Try and stall until I can find out what's wrong and get her asleep, okay?"

Ginny nodded and kissed Harry once more before she apparated out of the house.

Harry approached Hermione cautiously. She was curled up on the couch, hugging a pillow tightly to her chest. Her loud tears had silenced, but tears continued to pour down her face, and she shook.

Harry sat down and placed a comforting hand on her arm. Hermione lept at him, throwing her arms around him and crying into his shoulder. Harry wrapped his arms around her comfortingly.

"He left me, Harry."

Harry was suddenly consummed with rage, all directed towards his godfather. He'd specifically _told _him never to walk out when he was angry. It was all too similar to what had happened with Ron. Hermione had never trusted Ron again. Now...?

"I'm sure he'll be back, Hermione," Harry whispered. "He loves you."

Hermione continued to cry. "It's all my fault. I should have just talked to him, should have just let him help."

Harry sat and let Hermione try to convince herself of several different things, interjecting with, "it's not your fault," "he loves you," "he'll be back," and the like.

The whole time, he was hoping he'd have a chance at telling Sirius _exactly _what was on his mind.

...

Sirius barely remembered how he'd gotten here. All he knew was that now, he was sitting on the side of the bed of a very attractive blonde girl, strangely resembling that healer from Hermione's St. Mungo's visits. She sat angrily behind him. She made a flustered sound.

"If you didn't want to come, you shouldn't have in the first place," she said angrily, pulling on the clothes she had taken off all by herself.

Sirius was glad he'd remembered what was going on before anything had happened, before he'd even kissed the trollop dressing behind him. He shook his head. It was sad how quickly he'd changed to his old self, immediately leaving a bar with the first blue eyed floozy to catch his eye. He'd blindly followed her here, wherever here was, and now he knew he needed to get out.

"I'm sorry," he said hurriedly, rushing out the way he'd came in, and finding himself on a mysterious street he'd never seen before. It had began to rain, but with so much on his mind, he didn't think it safe to apparate back home to Hermione. And he knew he shouldn't return empty handed, so he wandered up the street a little and found himself on the porch of the bar he'd just been in, the one owned by the Finnegan boy. He walked on just a little bit to stop at a small shop to buy Hermione a bouquet of flowers, then back to the pub to see if he could use the floo.

"Well, well, well."

Sirius stopped dead in his tracks. He knew that voice like he knew the face of his own mother, something he dreaded and made him shiver.

"If it isn't my dear cousin, Sirius Black, the husband of the great Hermione Granger."

Sirius turned around, trying not to show how horrified that he was outnumbered six to one.

"What do you want, Bellatrix?" Sirius snapped. "I have to get home to Hermione."

"My, my, have you been crying, Siri?" She said innocently, stepping forward. In a heartbeat, Sirius had pulled out his wand, ready to defend himself. "That won't do at all. No matter. I've come to help you. I'll take you away from that nasty wife of yours, and all for free!"

Sirius shot a single spell, an expelliarmus that was brought upon simply by reflex. It caused a sudden onslaught of curses. He crashed to the ground, his flowers and his wand falling out of his grasp.

Soon, he was in frigid darkness, having no idea where he was and only a single thought in his mind-he hoped they wouldn't touch Hermione.

...

"Harry!"

Harry jumped, not expecting anyone to be barging into his house at midnight.

"Seamus?" Harry exclaimed. "What on earth? It's 12 am!"

"I'm sorry, Harry, but this really is important!" Seamus Finnegan said, panting.

He held out a three crumpled flowers and a wand. "Sirius was attacked outside my pub. I don't know where they took him, but it was the Lestranges and Malfoy and all the other Death Eaters."

Hermione jumped to her feet. "We have to save him!"

Seamus shook his head. "I don't know where they've gone."

Suddenly, there was a bright light and a patronus of a viper appeared in the room.

_Sirius Black has been taken by me, Bellatrix Lestrange. You will find him in the Castle of the Dead. Bring Granger and her wand, and Sirius will be saved._

Hermione looked at Harry when the patronus had vanished. "We're going to find him."

"Hermione, they're using him as bait."

"You think I don't know that?" She said madly. She began breathing heavily, and Harry had to bring her back down onto the couch.

"Hermione, have you taken your potions?"

She shook her head, still trying to catch her breath.

"Godric, where's Ginny and Ren!"

Hermione was still breathing heavily, but she sat up and began tying up her shoes. "We're going to find him, Harry. Take me to Grimmauld Place right now. Call the Order together, we have to find him!"

Harry sighed and nodded. "Thank you Seamus."

"I was glad to help, Harry," he mumbled. He handed the wand and the flowers to Hermione. "I hope you find him."

Hermione nodded. "Thank you, Seamus. I never...Thank Merlin..."

He smiled. "I understand. Say hi to everyone for me."

Harry nodded and Seamus apparated. Harry left a note for Ginny, just in case she appeared before he was able to call everyone with an emergency patronus.

Now that Harry had moved out, the only people living in Number 12 Grimmauld Place were the Weasely's, Remus, and Tonks. They were, thankfully, all there. Harry sent out a short message to the other members of the Order-Neville, Snape, the twins, Charlie, Billy, Fleur, Ginny, and Oliver Wood.

Harry explained their situation and Hermione declared that she would go herself if they didn't come with her.

Remus sighed.

"I guess we've got no choice," he shook his head and smiled at Hermione. "There's no stopping a woman in love."

"Or Hermione Granger!" The twins called out.

"Hermione _Black, _thank you," replied quickly, trying to look strong as she took her potions, leaving out potential bloodloss so she wouldn't fall asleep. "And no. There's no stopping me."

"It's settled then," Remus said, standing. "Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Fred, George, Severus, Neville, Tonks and I are going to get Sirius in two hours time. Everyone else, I expect you to go on with the meetings."

Those who hadn't been called nodded.

"Go get ready," Remus said. "Pack only what you need, and make sure you charm your bags."

He left, then, and Hermione apparated home to her flat to get a bag and begin filling it with things.

She jumped at a sudden bright light as she was sliding some of Sirius' clothes into the bag for when-_when_-they found him.

It was a big, white dog. A patronus.

_Hermione, love? If you've gotten this patronus, please, don't come with. The others can save me. Hermione, I'll only kill myself if I found out you were killed. I _love _you. You hear me? I love you. Carry on with what you were doing and just let me talk for a little while, okay? I stole someones wand and intend to make the best use of it that I can._

As Hermione packed, smiling as she thought about how she was most definitely going anyways, Sirius chatted on about how much he loved her, about different things he wished her were there to do to her, about certain things they'd done, and about how he knew he'd find himself in her arms again.

Hermione smiled. This was just like with Ron. But she loved Sirius more. So this time, she would find him. She was _not_ letting him go.

There was absolutely no stopping Hermione Black.

...

Hey, guys! Well, you asked for at least a little bit of happy...and this wasn't butterflies and unicorns happy, but the ending was something, right? I mean, Hermione was smiling and they were being all mushy!

Meh. Well, it'll be happy soon. Don't you worry your little heads about it. That's my job.

So, just keep reading! In...about three chapters time, more or less, there will be some happiness!


	33. Chapter 33

This is officially the most reviews I've ever gotten! And I'm not even done yet! I am so grateful to everyone who reads and reviews and puts my story on favourites and alerts and puts me on favourites and alerts and...

You probably don't care, considering where I left you off last time. Well, fine. Go satisfy your Chip Away the Stone needs.

...

They found themselves in the cursed rainforest once again, hopefully for the last time. With all that had been going on there, the magical barriers had been strengthened, and apparating was not possible into, out of, or within the barriers of the Amazon.

This would make things quite a bit more complicated for the group. The first time they'd gone through, they'd simply apparated to somewhere near the center of the barriers. This time, they'd have to travel through all the dangers of the Amazon. It would take an entire day just to reach the center.

Ren had insisted on coming with. She was the only one that could take them to the Castle of the Dead, which was beneath the surface of the river. And one other thing she knew that no other human knew-the Amazon river is actually an ocean.

She tried to explain it in her broken English, and when someone understood what she was getting at, they would volunteer their thoughts. Only with a special seaweed are people able to see the ocean that stretches across the Amazon.

Well, they would see when they got there.

It was nearing three in the morning, and Hermione was getting weaker by the second. Harry noticed this.

"Remus?" He asked the group leader. "I think we should stop for the night. If they really want Hermione, they'll keep Sirius alive until she comes."

Remus nodded, noticing Hermione using nearby trees to help her walk along. That could be deadly-they had absolutely no idea what might be growing on them.

"Everyone, we're going to set up camp right here," Remus announced. "We will go for Sirius in the later hours of the morning."

...

"Hermione."

Hermione looked over at Harry, who had set up her tent for her. No one wanted her over-exerting herself.

She stood and walked over to her tent, giving Harry a hug before she crawled inside and collapsed, asleep before her head hit her sleeping bag.

She was woken up only four hours later by Remus, who told her they needed to get moving right away.

Hermione nodded, feeling refreshed enough to get up and take down her tent with a swish of her wand, shoving it in her bag. She accepted a drink of water and an apple from Harry, who was helping Ginny get some odd hook and rope from her hair.

While Hermione was eating her apple and walking ahead a little bit to see what lay on the other side of the clearing they were in, she noticed how strange the trees were in the area. They had odd colours on them, like whites and blacks and greens and reds. She wondered briefly what they were when she was suddenly stopped by the same thing that had been in Ginny's hair-a very thin rope connected to a stone sort of fishing hook. She struggled with it for a moment before realising what exactly was going on.

"Ambush!" She shrieked.

"Hermione?" Remus yelled, running towards her. "What's going on? You've got one in your hair, too?"

He noticed, then, what had her frozen in fear. Where two circles with horizontal streaks of brown slicing through them had been, now stared back at them as two black eyes.

Hermione and Ginny had both fallen directly into one of their traps. Hermione stopped struggling. She might set off some sort of net or dead fall.

Remus quickly whipped his wand forward, cutting through the rope, and grabbed Hermione by the wrist, running the both of them back to the others.

"Wiccans!" He shouted. "We're surrounded. Everyone, prepare for a fight!"

Hermione swallowed hard. She'd read about wiccans. They were wizards who relied on nature, much like the most ancient of wizards. But wiccans took it further, living in and praising nature. And one thing they were known for-dangerous, bloody battles. Their war paint made to blend in with trees was only one hint that the way of life these people lived was a dangerous one, filled with awful masacres and bloody battles.

Everyone formed a circle, their backs to the middle. Hermione stayed close to Ren, hoping she could protect the magicless Siren. Her help, she found, was unneeded, when Ron came to the rescue, standing in between Ren and Hermione, just a bit in front of them, positioning himself so he could help either one of them if need be. He was really taking his failure the last time he'd been here hard.

All of this happened in the span of three seconds, before wiccans both male and female dressed in short, knee-length cloaks the colour of trees and leaves and grass that revealed their arms released a horrifying battle cry and charged into the rather large clearing, arms raised menacingly. Their heads were hooded and beneath their cloaks they wore hardly anything. The wiccans didn't believe in wands, preferring wandless magic, and used a majority of non-verbal spells. They were incredibly talented, and knew spells and curses that even the best wizards didn't know. They were especially more evil than normal spells.

The wiccans began shooting spells that made loud cracking sounds like thunder as they were released. Snape was the first one to whip out a spell, his aim impeccable. The wiccan crumpled immediately, and the others took Snape's lead, slashing their wands and sending spells cutting through the air. Hermione was locked in a battle with a rather young female wiccan who had a strange sort of blood-thirsty look in her eye that reminded her greatly of Bellatrix. She grew angry everytime the wiccan dodged her and shot a new spell. The wiccan seemed to be simply taunting Hermione, hitting her with hexes that felt like tiny bee-stings all over her body. Hermione couldn't get this wiccan, no matter how hard she tried.

Suddenly, a mad, sadistic laugh left the throat of the wiccan, and Hermione's stupefy hit her with such great anger that she fell, the elated smirk frozen on her face.

Hermione spun where she was, looking for a new target, before finding that only she, Remus, Harry, Ron, Snape, and Ren were still standing. She didn't even want to know the discomfort and torture the others were going through.

"Quick, Snape!" Hermione said, wiping sweat from her forehead as a sudden idea struck her. She recalled how Sirius had told her the story of how they'd attempted capturing a Siren, and knew she'd found their solution.

Snape looked at her and knew exactly what she was thinking of. Hermione was safe, but the other men weren't. Hermione covered him as he concentrated hard enough to cause the men of their side to go deaf but for anyone not human.

"Ren!" Hermione cried. "Sing!"

Ren started up immediately, and her voice was beautiful. It was the prettiest song Hermione had ever heard in her life. Prettier than her favourite Cauldron song, prettier than the music she'd heard underwater with the mermaids, the most beautiful song she'd ever heard.

And it caused all of the male wiccans to pause in their attacks, leaving them open for the standing Order members to strike. Even Ren helped. She continued to sing her soft, seductive song, but her teeth sharpened into evil fangs, her nails lengthening into long talons, and she struck, mutilating anyone who came near her.

It wasn't long before her song stopped and the wiccans lay in heaps on the ground. Remus and Snape went around reviving all of the fallen Order members.

Hermione panted, her chest beginning to ache, and she had to sit down. She kept her head between her knees for a few seconds before she felt Harry's hand on her shoulder. He helped her to her feet.

"That was a bloody good idea, 'Mione," Harry said. He was panting as well.

Hermione smiled lightly. "Thanks, Harry." She looked around. The ground was covered in blood and half-dead wiccans. She shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. It was disgusting.

She turned around and sighed in relief. Everyone was okay.

"You alright, Hermione?" Ron asked. He was kneeling next to Ren, who was crying as she tried to get the blood from her hands.

Hermione nodded. "Yeah, thanks."

Ren stood up and spat blood at her feet. She shook her head, eyes closed. "Water!"

Ron quickly ran for the canteen, and Hermione approached her friend. "I'm sorry for making you do that," she said softly.

Ren smiled as she drank. She shook her head once again. "It feel good to sing."

Hermione laughed quietly. "Good. Are you ready to go?"

Ren nodded, handing Ron the water. "If you is ready."

Hermione smiled. "Then let's go."

The group moved on, then, hoping that they'd left the worst behind them.

...

I'm pretty sure Wiccans are not blood-thirsty native Amazonians, but this was my idea. ^^


	34. Chapter 34

Hola! ^^

...

Their trek towards the Amazon Ocean was a difficult one, but Hermione refused to let them stop for more than a couple of minutes. She couldn't have Sirius die before she could apologise for the argument. She knew now it was completely her fault, and Sirius was only trying to help. She needed to get to him now, and even their quick pace wasn't quick enough for her.

At one point, they recieved another patronus from Bellatrix, taunting them. They had two days to come and get Sirius, or he'd be killed, and they would take Hermione's mind from her dead body. The threats were non-stop, and they soon decided that all of the traps they continued running into-deadfalls, getting caught in nets and ropes, fake footprint trails-were all set up by the Death Eaters. It was quite frustrating, and several times Hermione had to remind herself that there was no giving up hope.

She walked in the back of the group with Harry, Ren, Ginny, and Ron. It felt good to be surrounded by close friends, but really, she just wanted her Sirius back, and it felt awful not to have him by her side, especially when they had recently had such a horrible argument.

Well, she wasn't the brightest witch of her age for nothing. So, she decided to put her wandless, non-verbal magic to the test, just as the wiccans did. She steadily began her mental patronus, thinking all thoughts of her wonderful times with Sirius. It didn't take long before she knew that Sirius had recieved it. She just hoped she hadn't gotten him in any trouble.

...

Sirius was surprised the amount of freedom he was given in his prison. The Death Eaters had just taken his wand and dumped him in this castle, completely unnatended, except for one wimpy looking kid who followed him everywhere. Sirius knew he could take him out with one punch to the jaw, but he didn't really have any need to. There was no reason. They would just take away his freedom, anyway. Not that it mattered. He was in a castle underwater, at the center of an ocean he hadn't even been aware existed in the first place. He knew the only reason this kid was there was because they were unsure about how he'd managed to escape Azkaban, and they didn't want him pulling any tricks. Right. Like he could swim eight miles to the surface with no air and not having eaten in he didn't know how long.

He just hoped Hermione would be okay. Bellatrix had told him that he was bait, but he'd known this already. They wanted Hermione's knowledge, and though they could take it if she were dead, he also knew they wanted her power. She was a very talented witch, and they knew it. He hoped she'd heeded his warning and just forgotten about him, but he knew that she hadn't. He knew she was already in the Amazon searching for him, probably half-way here and having defeated endless horrifying creatures along the way. He'd been there when Bellatrix negotiated with the Wiccans, when she set up those traps, and...he didn't even want to think about the rest of the horrors she'd left for Hermione along the way.

Sirius was currently wandering down a corridor in the Castle of the Dead, marveling at its beauty and knowing how Hermione would definitely appreciate its architecture if she were there. He'd once read about it back at Hogwarts-despite what people think, he had most certainly done well in Hogwarts, and did his fair share of reading. Because he'd read about the Castle of the Dead, he knew that it was here that Davy Jones, the very real, immortal ship captain who brought people of the sea to the other side, put those of no use to him on his ship, and those who weren't worthy of the "other side," whatever it was, in this ocean. (AN: I kind of just want to let you all know that I'm a Christian, despite what my story is entailing. Okay, continue! ^^). He knew that every plant in the large garden surrounding the castle was the soul of the dead. He paid his respects before turning to leave the depressing corridor. He hoped that wasn't where he ended up in two days, if Hermione didn't make it.

Suddenly, the brightest light he'd seen since he'd been captured appeared. A sparkling, silver otter danced into the room and perched on the floor, and Sirius knew he could recognise Hermione's patronus anywhere.

_Sirius? _It whispered. _I'm doing this in secret, from my mind. I hope I've not gotten you in trouble, Sirius, but I just wanted to tell you how much I love you, and that I'm sorry, and that I will fight for you 'til death. I miss you so much, Sirius, and I just wish you were here with me. I'm crying, I miss you so much, and now Harry's trying to make me feel better, telling me that we'll find you, but I'm only nodding, not wanting to break my concentration. Are you there, Sirius? I think you are. I can sort of...feel you. I love you enough to know you're listening._

Sirius listened to her voice, entranced. The weak little boy watched the patronus with him, but Sirius ignored him, falling to his knees and crawling towards the dancing silver otter. He sat cross-legged and continued to listen to his wife's ramblings.

_Sirius, I was wrong, very wrong to not tell you what was wrong. And I shouldn't have gotten so angry. I over-reacted big time, and I hate myself for it, because now I may never see you again. No! That's not true. I will see you again. I will find you. I've already come so far. I've come through all of those traps, I fought through Wiccans, and I'll face whatever's ahead to find you. I won't stop, just like you didn't stop to help me. I love you, and I can't stop thinking that. I love, love, love you. Doesn't it just feel great to have someone to say that to?_

There was the sound of a sigh.

_I'm running out of things to say. I don't want to repeat myself too often. Maybe I should apologise for going against what you said to come and find you, but I'm not sorry. And you knew I was coming for you, even after you sent your patronus-your very naughty patronus, I might add-admit it._

Hermione went on for nearly a half an hour, talking about things she saw, explaining the fight with the Wiccans, reminding Sirius of their love, and just talking, really.

_Harry told me a very funny joke earlier when he saw I was crying again. I've been doing that a lot, lately, but don't blame yourself. Just blame my hormones. I'm still a teenager, after all. Anyways, the joke goes like this-Knock knock? Oh, darn, I forgot you can't reply. Hm...I guess I'll just have to be you._

Sirius found himself laughing in contempt of his situation. He shook his head at his wife's silly humour. Finally, Hermione told him that she had to go. Sending a patronus wandlessly and nonverbally was nearly impossible, and energy draining for those talented enough to succeed.

He pulled himself to his feet and ignored the boy some more, wandering over to the ledge looking out over the underwater courtyard. It was beautiful, but he knew he couldn't step foot outside this castle. The only thing keeping him alive now was the barriers surrounding the castle, locking in air and locking out water.

He sighed, thinking about how beautiful Hermione would think this was, before he turned away and walked on.

...

Hermione rubbed her eyes when she cut off her patronus, feeling like a weight had been lifted from her. At least now Sirius knew she wasn't angry with him anymore. And he also knew that he _was_ going to be found if she had anything to do with it.

"You okay, Mione?" Ron asked. "You look really tired all of a sudden."

She shrugged. "No more tired than I was before. Thanks for asking."

He smiled and nodded, glad that it seemed she wasn't angry for all of the awful things he'd said the day her baby had died.

Hermione noticed that as they got closer and closer, it was getting more and more buggy. The bugs came in all sizes and, quite frankly, she was horrified by them. A beetle landed in Ginny's hair, causing her to shriek at the top of her lungs, which aggravated a group of demonic pixies, which chased them for nearly a mile, biting at them and leaving stinging welts wherever they'd been bitten.

Hermione panted, stopping to rest, her hands pressing against her knees to keep her at least half-way upright.

She soon realised that it wasn't her that was making the loud panting noises in her ear. She swallowed hard and chanced a look to her left. The faces of her friends were stunned. She closed her eyes and turned her head to the right, then slowly opened them.

"Oh, dear Merlin," she whispered, before throwing herself out of the path of an angry, possessive Griffin.

...

Please review? Come on, it's my sixteenth birthday! ^^


	35. Chapter 35

Snape caught Hermione before she could fall over after launching herself away from the stationary Griffin. She managed to right herself as the group stood, wondering what the next move was. One wrong step, one wrong facial expression, one wrong _thought, _and the Griffin would attack them, leaving nothing, not a hair, not a possession, not a single scrap of human.

Remus, as usual, was the first to gather his wits about him. He slowly, slowly stepped forward, towards the Griffin, whose sleek, majestic head twitched in his direction.

"You are not allowed passage," said the Griffin in a deep, surprising voice.

"We need to get through," Remus replied.

He swung his voice back and forth slowly. "It cannot be allowed."

"But our friend is down there!" Remus exclaimed. "We have what his capturers want, and we've come to take him back!"

He shook his head elegantly once again. "It is not allowed. I am to fight to the death if struggle is apparent."

Remus' jaw dropped. "Why would they just kill us if they want us so badly?"

"They want Miss Black for her mind," Snape replied coolly. "They can take it from her if her death has been recent enough."

"Why didn't they just kill her right away then?" Harry asked.

"Have you just met Miss Black?" Snape retorted quickly. "She's quite powerful, if you haven't noticed. They want her power as well, which, as you might have guessed, is only possible if she is, in fact, alive."

The Griffin was watching and listening to them with a sharp ear, his head twitching back and forth, eyes landing on every Order member at least once before changing to the next person, never on anyone more than three seconds.

"Please," Hermione said, growing tired with everyone's arguments and reasons why or why not they might want her dead. "What can we say to you that will convince you to let us pass?"

"It must be a noble reason," he replied grandly, "and you must be worthy enough to retrieve whatever treasure it is Madam Lestrange is keeping in the Castle of the Dead."

"The treasure is my husband," Hermione replied frantically. "I wish to offer up myself so that he may be released! What's more noble than that?"

The Griffin tromped a small circle around Hermione as he deliberated wether or not to let her pass, before bowing once in front of her again. "You are most definitely worthy, Mrs. Black."

Hermione sighed a breath of relief.

"Your thoughts are not deceitful and your intentions are noble," he continued. "You may pass, on one condition."

Hermione's breath hitched in her voice for a second. "What is it?"

"You must leave someone with me, so that if you return, I know that what you have said is true."

Hermione nodded and turned to the group. Everyone looked around thoughtfully, before Tonks stepped forward. "I'll stay," she replied.

"Tonks, no," Remus said softly but firmly. "I don't want you to be alone here."

She smiled and shook her head. "Remus, I'll be fine. Just go on ahead, I'll try not to fall or break something, and I'll be right here when you return." She kissed him. "And you'd _better _return."

Remus smiled and nodded, kissing her again, before he stepped forward. "My wife will stay behind," he said.

The Griffin nodded and stepped aside, allowing for the Order members to pass him. They were at the river now, and Siren's were beginning to flock to them, so quickly that Snape barely had to time to block their hearing and keep them from being entranced by their song.

Ren ran out in front and stood in front of them all, holding out her hands as she tried to reason with them, though the men of the group were completely deaf to her. She'd been with them so long that they'd nearly forgotten she wasn't human, only just half, and they wouldn't be able to hear her, even when she was just speaking.

But Hermione, Ginny, and Tonks could hear her as she tried to convince the Sirens to move on. This only provoked their anger, and they began to screech at her about betrayal, about how her actions had elicited her disowning.

She shook her head violently. She spoke to them in their strange tongue, motioning to everyone behind her in one fluid gesture. She then grabbed Hermione by the arm and pulled her forward, speaking quickly and angrily.

"They will not let us pass," she said in English. "We will need to fight past them."

"Ren, we can't get in the water or they'll attack us," Hermione replied. "We can't breathe under water."

Ren thought for a moment. "You stall them for few minutes?"

Hermione sighed and nodded. "We can try." She turned to the others. "We have to stall them for Ren. Come on, then."

The others came forward, and Hermione shot the first spell, slicing off the hair of several Siren's before jumping into the water a little ways away. The current was strong but she was angrier, and this made her able to swim against the pulling water to a branch. She grabbed onto it and pulled herself up just as several angry Sirens flew through the water towards her. She was able to attract a few more by setting fire to the area beside them, cutting them off from several others.

She managed to temporarily stun several of them, knowing they'd eventually need to come back up for air, and the others she was fighting off as the other Order members followed her lead.

"Hermione!"

She saw Ren was drying off back on the bank with her hands full of two different types of seaweed. Hermione stunned the group still surrounding her and let the current wash her towards the group. Ron and Harry helped her back onto shore and offered her a towel. She wrapped it around her arms and crouched beside Ren, breathing hard.

Ren handed her a bluish, sticky looking weed. "This help see."

Hermione understood. It was so they could see how the Amazon was actually an ocean. She took it and copied how Ren was gesturing. She wiped it over her eyelids, cringing slightly at the texture and small burning sensation. When she had opened her eyes, she gasped in wonder, watching at the brush and trees before her melted into water, stretching farther than she could ever see.

There was no time for marveling, though. Ren thrust the next kind into her hand and told her to eat it, just as the others. Hermione did as Ren told her to, slipping part into her mouth and the rest into her pocket for if it began to wear off when she was down there, and the rest for when they returned with Sirius.

The group stripped down into their underwear, no time for thinking or feeling self-conscious, and Ren jumped into the water, quickly transforming once again.

Hermione took a deep, uneccessary, deep breath, and jumped into the water. She was quickly followed by the others.

It was an odd sensation, taking a few breaths when she was _under water_, but she didn't have the time to think about it. It was extrememly dark under here, and the pulling current was hard to fight against, but she did so, for Sirius.

Ren made her way to the front and motioned for everyone to follow. Hermione shot after her quickly, desperate to find Sirius, and hoping with all her heart that they all came out of this alive.

...

Very short, sorry, but I'm having a weekend long birthday party, and probably won't have much of a chance to update while it's going on...so I thought I'd give you a nice cliffhanger to keep you thinking until my next chance for writing. ^^

Don't you just love me?

Ps, thanks for all of the birthday wishes! It was a pretty good one, and it just never ends until Monday! Good thing my dad's birthday is Saturday so our joint party lasts so long. ^^

Okay, bye now. One of my friends is going to be showing up in a few minutes here.


	36. Chapter 36

Here's a nice long chapter since I've been missing for what, two days? :O It was partially because I liked the concept of this chapter and I wanted it to be a good one that it took so long. I did lots of contemplating on it, and it's finally copmlete! I hope you like it! ^^ I know I sure do!

...

They'd been swimming for several minutes when Hermione found that, even though they could talk and breathe under water, the seaweed did absolutely nothing for how easily they tired while swimming. She soon found that she needed to go to the surface to rest.

"I don't know if I'll be able to make it," Hermione said, spitting out salt water. She wiped at her eyes.

"Hermione, you can't say that now," Harry said softly. "We've come this far."

She shook her head, feeling herself begin to start to cry as she rested herself against a big rock. It was an oddly coloured rock, and kind of slippery, but she was too tired to really care at the moment.

"Is there any way that we can get there without swimming?" she asked, resting her head against the rock.

"I don't think so," Remus replied softly. "Hermione, we could just go."

She shook her head. "They want me."

Suddenly, something next to her moved, and she felt herself to slowly begin rising in the air.

"Erm, guys?" She said. "Guys!"

She was suddenly thrown into the air and tossed sideways, soaring through the air before landing in the water about twenty feet away. She struggled to make it back to the surface, still good on air but wanting to get back to the others.

"I don't believe it..." Snape murmured. "It's the Kraken..."

"The Kraken?" Hermione panted. "But isn't that just the giant squid?"

Snape shook his head, wet hair sticking to his face. "The Kraken is much worse, and a lot bigger. No one but three men have ever seen the Kraken and lived to tell the tale."

Hermione gulped. This wasn't good news at all.

"How did they see the Kraken in an ocean he didn't know existed?"

"This ocean is known of," Snape replied. "It's called Atlantis. Muggles got it all wrong, saying that the ancient ocean city of Atlantis went missing. It was really an entire ocean called Atlantis that went missing. And the Kraken lived in it. Atlantis is actually the Atlantic ocean-Atlantis is unable to be found because it's essentially a portkey."

Hermione's jaw dropped, but she didn't have time to ask the questions nawing at her mind, as they now saw the head of the Kraken. And it was angry.

They quickly swam away, all of them just barely dodging one of the huge, strong tentacles that it possessed as he thrashed them wildly before diving beneath the surface to attack from under them.

Harry spotted something in the distance that might help them-a ship.

"There!" Harry exclaimed. "Help!"

Everyone joined in, screaming for help as they swam away from the enormous squid, quickly propelling itself after them.

It seemed like forever before they reached the ship, and miraculously, the Kraken didn't catch them. But something else almost did.

Hermione ducked under the water at the sudden crack, a sharp sound like thunder. She shivered and nearly burst into tears at the loud noise, wishing Sirius was there to comfort her, as he did during every storm. But he wasn't, so she stayed strong for him.

It was a cannon, a medival cannon from the side of the old, wood paneled ship they found themselves relying on for safety.

"Help!" Harry yelled once more. A curious head peeked over the side of the ship. Harry caught his attention. "Please!" He cried again. "Help us!"

The man turned around, and they heard frantic yelling. "Cap'n!" presumably the man they'd just seen yelled out. "Cap'n, there be witches and wizards overboard!"

"Wot?" He peaked over the edge of the ship, and his kohl-lined eyes met their frightened ones. "Oh my Godric, they're only children! Well," his voice was very slurred. "Some of them. Come now, get them aboard! We can't have them in with the Kraken, now, can we?"

The man threw over a rope. Harry and Ron helped Hermione on, and she inched up, using every last drop of her strength and adreneline to pull herself up the the ship. The man helped her over the edge, then returned quickly for Ginny, who had come next. Hermione crouched in an area not any of the men were crossing through, and the Captain came back with a towel.

"What were you doing in the middle of the Atlantic, might I ask?" He slurred, dropping his stack of dirty towels in front of Hermione and Ginny, who took them thankfully, not minding that they were covered in grime and salt water.

"We were looking for my husband," Hermione panted. "Is it safe to say you're a wizard, too?"

The Captain winked at her. "If you can call me a wizard, yes." He motioned to his ship. "This is what happens to wizards unable to afford training who live by the sea. Pirates."

"Pirate?" Hermione's eyes widened. "Then you know about the Castle of the Dead."

"I do," he said. "Never met a pirate who doesn't. Is that where your man be?"

Hermione nodded. "He was kidnapped as bait."

"Bait for whom?" He asked, just before another crack sounded, and he jumped to his feet. "You can tell me all about it after we slay the Kraken!" He shouted over his shoulder. "That is, if we survive!"

Hermione wasn't hearing any of that. She _would_ survive this, and if she had anything to say about it, so would all of these men.

"Hermione, where are you going?" Harry asked, kneeling down by Ginny.

"I'm not dying now," she shouted before running towards the side of the ship, wand at the ready. As soon as she saw a tentacle, every bit of information she'd ever read about the Kraken began swimming through her mind, scrolling as if her whole brain was a computer, and she pinpointed just the spells she needed to defeat it.

She shot her first spell at it, and it was completely successfully, lopping off an entire tentacle and sending it soaring through the air, only to splash several feet away. The beast let out a gut-wrenching, blood curling shriek. Hermione was patted on the back by one of the men. "Blimey, you've got skills!"

"If it's the only way to stay alive, I've got skills," Hermione replied over the sound of the Kraken. She turned quickly to the man, who was lean and muscular. He wore a bandana and a very stereotypical eyepatch, and had a short, stubbly beard. "Can you help me get up higher?"

"Of course, mate," he said. "Anything for you!"

She followed him to the ratlines, and immediately began to climb with two feet and one hand out so she could continue firing spells at the demon beginning to wrap it's long tentacles around the ship. The man laughed. "Look at 'er, Cap'n! She's a natural!"

Hermione ignored the sudden praise and moved on to her next spell, casted perfectly, but the monster moved only a little, and it wasn't nearly as effective as it should have been; but this tentacle was still rendered useless, as it turned to ash and disintegrated into the water. Now it only had six working tentacles and Hermione was quickly working on the others.

One had clamped over a cannon, and the ship rocked with the force of the ball flying through the arm of the great monster. It shrieked again, sounding frustrated, probably at being beaten.

Without warning, Hermione felt one of the tentacles wrapping around her waist and pulling her from the yard arm, shaking her visciously. Soon, when she felt she was going to be sick, and was seriously fearing for her life for the first time since she felt herself growing weary of swimming, the arm was spliced from the rest of the body, and she fell towards the ship. She landed, hitting just her arm on the deck, the rest of her fall being cushioned by the rubbery arm of the Kraken. She pulled herself loose, and, after much struggle, Harry, Ron and Snape helped her to her feet.

"Are you alright, Mione?" Harry panted.

She nodded breathlessly, intent on destroying either the remaining four tentacles, or striking at the head itself. She was propelled on by a fury she'd never felt in herself before, fueled by the anger at this creature preventing her from saving Sirius.

Completely undaunted by her first fall, Hermione climbed back up to the crows nest and watched as the great head of the Kraken rose up from the water. It revealed it's rows of razor sharp teeth as it screeched at her, and Hermione took aim. She fired.

The shrill howl that came from the mouth that was spilling blood onto the deck was deafening and enough to throw Hermione to the floor. Her fall was broken by the Captain of the ship, who caught her in a bride hold. She struggled a bit, and he let her down, allowing her to shoot once more through his head, and all of the tentacles fell, slamming onto the deck, striking several crew members, before finally, all the noise stopped, and the beast sunk to the bottom of the sea.

But the pull rocked the ship, and Hermione held onto the nearest thing in sight for dear life as the ship swirled off course, before finally stopping.

Hermione took a deep breath and pulled herself away from the captain.

Suddenly, he laughed. "Look at us, the bloody crew of the _Onyx Bane_, and we be the killers of the legendary Kraken!"

Laughter rang out, even from the injured.

"And we owe it all to this talented lassie right here!" He grabbed Hermione's wrist and pulled it into the air, wand pointed to the sky.

"I think it right to give her half of my position as Lord of the Pirate's Council, and the granting of any wish she might have!" He lowered her hand. "What be your wish, lassie?"

"Help us get to the Castle of the Dead," she said firmly. "To find my husband."

"I think that be fair!" He announced. "Smithy!"

The man who had found them and helped Hermione onto the rat lines ran from the crowd to his captain. "Aye!"

"Set our course due North!" He announced. "We're taking a journey with these fine people, and we be taking them to the Castle of the Dead, to find our saviour's husband!" He turned to Hermione. "And what be the name of our saviour?"

"My name is Hermione Black," Hermione replied. "And I think I need to lie down."

He barked out a laugh similar to Sirius', and she choked up. "I'd be honoured to have you take a breather in my quarters. And your friends can come, too. Come along!"

The Order followed after the Captain and Hermione.

"What's your name?" Hermione finally asked.

"I be Captain Seth Frehley, and this is my ship, the _Onyx Bane," _he slurred. "Pirate ship, to be precise. Ever heard of it?"

"I have," Hermione breathed. "They say that if you attack two more settlements, you'll be even more fearsome than Blackbeard."

He laughed. "Well, that don't mean nothing to me. Well..." he looked her in the eye. "Maybe just a little. Now. I have a question for you."

"What is it?" Hermione asked as he led them into his quarters. Hermione's knees went weak at the mere sight of a bed.

He turned to her and offered the bed. "Why are you all nude?"

...

Hope you liked it! I had to throw pirates in to make this officially the favourite of all of my fanfictions. I mean, it hurts me to say it, but it is. It's got Sirius and romance and _pirates_! Plus, the title is from the song of my favourite band...

Anyways, reviews are appreciated! About fifty more and I get 300 reviews, and I'll probably explode!

Alright, bye now!


	37. Chapter 37

Hey guys, guess what's up? Sirius!

...

After explaining who they were and why they were there, Captain Frehley found them all proper clothing to wear until they were above the Castle of the Dead. After they convinced him to allow Ren, who had luckily remained unscathed, on board, Hermione fell quickly asleep. It would take at least four hours to get to the Castle of the Dead, and Hermione planned on taking advantage of this. When the ships doctor had bound the wrist she'd broken when she'd fallen from the top of the ship, she almost immediately passed out.

"You seem like a good mate of Ms. Black's, here, Mr. Potter," said Captain Frehley when everyone else was eating with the crew, and Harry had decided to stay behind with the sleeping girls.

Harry nodded. "She's my best friend."

"'Tis always nice to have one," the Captain replied, pouring himself a glass of spiced rum. "Tell me, boy. How old is she?"

"Seventeen," Harry replied. "She'll be eighteen in a few months."

The Captain nodded. "And she married the convict Sirius Black? He's a bit old for her, don't you think?"

Harry shrugged. "At first I thought so. It was just something to get through the marriage act, and we wanted to keep her inside the Order. But now, I don't think so. Sure, he's seventeen years older than her, but they really love each other. I know Hermione wouldn't be fighting this hard for someone she didn't love like she loves Sirius. And if Sirius dies and she knows she could have saved him, I don't know how she'll be able to take it."

The Captain nodded again and offered Harry the spiced rum. Harry accepted it.

"Not as good as Firewhiskey, but we ran out last month," said Captain Frehley. "We were celebrating how close to land we are when that vile beast attacked. Anyhow, it's nice to see someone fighting so hard for love. I became a pirate for love, believe it or not. And it's why I still am. But I won't bore you with the tale's of an old man. Come now, let's go get supper before you've got to go under."

Harry nodded, kissing Ginny on the forehead before following Captain Frehley out of his quarters.

...

Hermione stood on the rail, her toes inching over as she peered down at the frigid water. They'd taken a potion to keep them from freezing to death beneath the surface of the ocean, along with another bottle for Sirius, and each took enough seaweed to make it there and back, with a little extra time in between, just in case they ended up being delayed.

Hermione turned and smiled at Captain Frehley.

"Thank you for everything you've done," she said, returning the dress he'd loaned her. "I'll be in touch."

"I look forward to it, Ms. Black," he said, nodding to her. "Careful down there. Wouldn't want my partner Lord to die, now."

Hermione's smile widened, and she took a deep breath to prepare herself, before pencil diving into the water. Even with the potion the water was a bit chilly, but Hermione couldn't think of that now. She also couldn't think of the fact that it had been quite a while since she'd taken her potions and though she wasn't growing tired or feeling any pain, she knew she only had so much time before she did.

They had taken several helpful potions provided by the pirates-for increased strength, for pressure resistance, for their eyes so the salt water wouldn't burn them. This way, they could survive deep beneath the surface of the ocean. If they ran into anything else, their wands would have to help them. They used their wand tips to see through the inky blackness beneath the surface.

It was beautiful down here. Hermione wondered how many people got to see this far down. She wondered why things down here were so colourful if no one was able to see it. She swam along side Ren, who was as fast as lightening if she wanted to be, but slowed down significantly for them. Ren smiled at Hermione and pointed something out to her. It was a jelleyfish. Hermione's heart sped up as they passed beside it, but knew that she wouldn't be able to harm something so beautiful if she didn't need to. Ren told them about how her and her sisters would decorate their long hair with certain shells and stones, and she spoke to them in the language of several types of fish. She could even speak to them in the language shrimp apparently spoke. Hermione was shocked to find that animals actually did have language.

They had been swimming for nearly four hours. It would have been longer, but with the potion granting them extra strength, they had cut down their time by nearly seventy percent.

They approached the Castle of the Dead. It was tall and rather beautiful, despite its purpose. The architecture was gorgeous, with large stained-glass windows, big arches, statues carved right out of the walls. The door was about twelve sizes bigger than it needed to be, but it was so beautiful anyways.

It was even more beautiful to Hermione with the knowledge that Sirius was inside.

"Do we have a plan?" She asked them.

Remus nodded. "Get inside, get Sirius, get out."

Hermione followed as he approached the door. "What if we run into a Death Eater?"

"Knock them out."

Hermione nodded. Plain and simple.

There was a statue that worked to get them inside the air-lock shield. Remus cautiously took the hand of the statue, and was zapped out of the water, presumabely-hopefully-into the castle. Hermione followed suit, and breathed a mental sigh of relief when she found herself inside the dark, gloomy castle. Remus pulled her around the corner.

He placed his hands on her shoulders and held them tight, staring directly into her eyes. "Here's the real plan," he began quietly. "You and I will go and find Sirius while the others stay out there. If any trouble comes, I'll send a patronus and they'll be with us immediately. If not, we get out of here as quickly as possible."

Hermione nodded and swallowed hard before Remus took the lead and they marched through the castle. Hermione's heart was screaming in excitement at being so close to Sirius. She needed him, needed his arms around her, just needed to be able to see him, to be right next him and know that he was there to stay.

Remus had used a strange, very advanced spell that led him directly to whomever he was searching for if he knew them well enough. It was entirely undetectable by anyone but whom it was being used on.

So Sirius knew immediately that they were in the castle, searching for him. He was just sitting in a windowsill, staring out at a group of jellyfish making there way passed him. He tried not to let it show, but knowing Hermione was so close to him made his heart speed up. Thankfully, the idiot they'd been having follow him around was too stupid to realise how shifty he'd suddenly become. He didn't notice when Sirius stood up and began to circle around the room, or even when he was right behind him.

But he was pretty sure he noticed when Sirius kneed him in the back, stealing his wand and stealing his voice. He was positive he noticed when Sirius summoned his wand and put a full body bind on him, and especially sure he noticed when Remus and Hermione finally made their ways into the room.

Neither of them could move when they saw each other. They just stood there, staring.

And then, Sirius made the first move. He launched himself at her, and Hermione came to her senses not long after. They collided into a huge hug, Sirius knowing he'd never be able to let her go, never be able to take his lips from hers, never be able to stop crying, never be able to stop telling her how sorry he was, how much he loved her.

"Well."

The breathless, sardonic voice was enough to make them both freeze.

"Isn't this just beautiful?"

Sirius moved Hermione behind himself and turned to face his cousin. Remus knew this was the trouble he'd been expecting. His mental patronus was a quick one. _Help._

It seemed that every Death Eater still alive had decided to show up to this little fight.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Bella, but I think it's time I leave," Sirius said. "Not that I didn't _enjoy _my little stay...actually, that's not true. I hated it. Bye!"

He turned and pushed Hermione gently, urgeing her to run on.

"We had a deal," Bellatrix said, barring their paths. "It's the girl for my idiot cousin. Hand her over and you get the idiot. You don't and you all get death."

The others showed up, then, prepared for a fight.

Hermione fumbled in the small pouch she had wrapped around her neck, pulling out the potions and seaweed before handing them to Sirius. She then stepped in front of him and sent one of the most powerful, fury filled spells she'd ever shot towards the group. She then turned. Sirius dropped the empty bottles to the floor and took her hand, and the group of them ran.

They didn't make it far before Bellatrix made it to the front of the group, and the battle began. Each Order member found themselves up against at least three Death Eaters twice their size. Ren was the most help once again, but there were more Death Eaters now than there had been Wiccans at the end of their battle, and she could only do so much. Hermione found herself fighting with Bellatrix Lestrange, and it was difficult to see who was winning. Bellatrix's mad laughter would have pointed the viewer towards her, but it was Hermione whose spells were the most vicious and were really striking home, even with her broken wrist. Luckily, it wasn't her wand hand, or she'd be dead.

Soon, Bellatrix's elated laughter was growing into anger filled snarls, and she was yelling out taunts.

"I can't see what you see in my pathetic cousin," she said when they'd gotten rather close.

Hermione snarled angrily and shot a rapid _stupefy!_ in her direction, but she only whirled out of the way, retaliating with a quick _crucio!_ Which missed, striking down one of the men Ron had been fighting, allowing him to bind him and move on to another apponent.

Missing made her angry, and she felt the need to scream some more insults at both Hermione and Sirius. "He's retarded, and he only married you for your body, obviously. Which, I might add, isn't even that great."

Hermione growled and sent another spell rocketing her way, nearly cutting off her arm. Bellatrix screamed and whacked several different hexes out of her wand, Hermione barely able to defend herself against each of them.

"I hope you and him live happily ever after," she hissed, pushing her sweaty hair out of her face. "You, him, and your _stupid, dead child."_

Hermione didn't have time to falter. She transfigured her wand, launched forward, and grabbed Bellatrix by the hair, before digging the newly created daggar into her stomach. Bellatrix's entire body froze, and she choked, bending over.

"And I hope that you feel regret about every last thing you've ever done, and that this ends up to be the most pain you've ever felt in your life," she hissed to the dying, evil woman.

She ripped her wand from Bellatrix, not sure if she'd hit anything vital or not, but she hoped that she did die. Her daggar changed back into a wand and cleaned of any trace of Bellatrix's blood, and she stepped back as Bellatrix fell to the floor. Before she turned to continue the fight, she spat on the woman, who was gasping in pain and bleeding dangerously.

She turned around and was immediately slammed with a spell by none other than Rodolphus Lestrange, loving husband of the woman Hermione had just murdered.

She grinned. _Bring it on._

Hermione won that fight, too, but without so much...death. Soon, all but three Death Eaters stood. They were smart enough to realise they were outnumbered, even with both Ron and Remus as members of the fallen, and they surrendered. Hermione managed to revive them both, and found herself promptly glued to Sirius.

She broke down into tears. "I'm so sorry, Sirius. This is all my fault."

"Of course it's not," he whispered. "It's neither of our fault. You destroyed the person whose fault it is. Hermione, I love you, and that's all you need to think about right now."

Hermione nodded and took a shaky breath before looking at Bellatrix. "Is she...dead?"

Sirius shrugged, hugging her tighter. "Hopefully. Good job, there, love. But, as much as I hate to say it, she's a strong one. Look there, she's still holding on."

Bellatrix's fingers were twitching towards her wand.

"Let's get out of here before she wakes up," Remus said. "Before any of them wake up."

Hermione nodded and took Sirius' hand, following quickly after the other Order members, and they quickly left the hell-hole, which it technically was. They swam as quickly as they could, no time to admire the beauty this time, and made it to the surface in record time.

And despite that Hermione had defeated wiccans, slayed the legendary Kraken, swam to the bottom of the ocean, entered the Castle of the Dead, quite possibly killed the most violent witch of all time, and was a partial pirate Lord, all she could think about was that she finally had her Sirius back.

...

Yay! They're back together. Let the happiness ensue! ^^

And don't worry. I'm far from finished with this story. More suspense to come! But enjoy the happiness, there's going to be buckets of it in the coming chapters. Just because you endured all of that tragedy and suspense so nicely. ^^ Bye, then!


	38. Chapter 38

Sirius and Captain Frehley got on very well from the first minute they met. It started the moment Captain Frehley pulled him up onto his ship.

"Welcome to me humble ship," he said, handing, Sirius a towel. "Can I offer you a drink?"

Sirius and Hermione were invited by the Captain to use his quarters to catch up with each other. Sirius couldn't let go of her. He never wanted to. It wasn't even physically possible at the moment.

He actually felt tears of happiness leaking from his eyes as he held her to his chest. They just sat there, holding each other, glad to finally be with each other again. "I love you, Hermione," he whispered.

Hermione fervently made it known that she loved him back with the five-billionth kiss since they'd made it onto the ship. "I love you, too," she replied, trying to stay awake, for his sake.

He could tell how tired she was from her eyes. "When's the last time you took your potion, Hermione?"

She shrugged, sinking into him. "Not sure...I don't think I need them anymore..."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I think you do. When we get back to your things, I want you to take your potions, okay? I don't want to risk losing you now that I've got you back again. I'm never leaving you again, do you hear me?"

She nodded weakly before she slipped from consciousness.

...

Hermione woke up a few hours later to the shouts of "Land, ho!" She shifted, finding herself alone in the captain's quarters. She got out of the bed and wandered out on deck to find Sirius chatting happily with the others. When he saw Hermione coming through the door, he winked and held out his arms for her. She rushed to him immediately and landed in his lap. He laughed and held her tightly.

Before she'd interupted, he'd been speaking with some of the crew members. "Here she is," he said. "Important member of the Golden Trio, the only girl to ever beat me into submission. Me, Sirius Black!"

Hermione kissed his nose. "That's right. And don't you forget it."

"Ms. Black is a mighty fine woman, Sirius," said one of the crew members. "Slayed that Kraken nearly single handed. No, half of it was single-handed!" He and the others laughed when he motioned to Hermione's broken wrist.

Hermione shrugged. "That Kraken was the only thing standing in the way of me and Sirius. That and a bunch of pirates, but I guess saving a pirate, or a ship full of them, means they let you off with a warning. And one wish."

They laughed some more and continued to chat happily together. Hermione enjoyed hearing the tales of adventure that she'd read about first hand from those who had been there. She learned that pirates were fabulous story tellers, and boy, did they have stories to tell!

Finally, though, they had made it too close to land for safety. If they were captured by the Sirens, there was no telling what would happen. So Hermione transfigured an empty keg into a boat, and the Order was lowered into the water by the rather friendly pirates, who wished them safe travels and hoped to stay in touch.

After checking in with the Griffin and getting Tonks back, they began their journey home. After a few hours of trekking through the Amazon, Sirius made everyone stop in a clearing so Hermione could take her potions and they could set up their tents before it got too dark. After setting up their tents, Hermione and Sirius crawled inside one of them and made it their own.

While Sirius ate his share of the supper Remus had withdrew from his bag, Hermione quickly finished hers and sorted out the appropriate doses of potion.

Sirius swallowed the last of his dinner and gestured to the potion that made her drowsy. "Don't forget that one."

Hermione shook her head. "I'm not taking that one."

Sirius rose one eyebrow. "Oh?"

"I don't want to be too tired for this."

She slowly got onto her hands and knees and made her way over to Sirius, her eyes never leaving his. Sirius could barely contain himself when he caught on. He pulled Hermione in for a kiss that made up for every kiss he could have given her in the time he was gone, and lowered her onto the sleeping bag.

Just then, rain began pelting down, and the sound of rain was enough to keep every other Order member unaware of what was going on in the tent of the reunited couple.

...

Sirius woke up the next morning, and butterflies soared through his stomach when he realised who was sleeping in his arms. He tightened his hold on her a little bit and she made a small, sleepy sound, but stayed unconscious. Sirius kissed her forehead and snuggled into the sort-of-pillow that was built into his sleeping bag.

He was so happy at that moment that nothing could shatter it. Hermione had forgiven him for everything, even the things he was so reluctant to tell her, about where he'd been when he was kidnapped. She told him that his guilt was punishment enough, and especially because he'd walked away, she couldn't stay upset. Hermione still loved him, that had been greatly apparent the night before.

He chuckled to himself, staring up at the ceiling of the tent, which was weighted down a bit from the rain the night before. Thankfully, it hadn't stormed, and Hermione had slept soundly once they were too tired to do anything else.

_CRACK!_

Sirius jumped from the sleeping bag, gently lowering Hermione before pulling on a pair of pants and rushing from the tent. He looked around madly for the source of the noise, but found nothing.

Even so, he didn't feel safe. Remus and Harry, who had also come out of their tents at the sound, agreed that leaving immediately would be best.

"Sirius?" Hermione said groggily when she finally stirred, watching him neatly packing her potions and placing them in her bag, moving around quickly to make sure he had everything.

Sirius paused to smile at her and offer a quick kiss. "Goodmorning, love. Could you please get dressed for me? We need to go."

Hermione obliged, searching the tent for her scattered clothes, but asked, "So early?"

Sirius nodded. "I don't feel safe here. Harry, Remus and I heard something a bit ago, and we don't want to take any chances. I won't feel comfortable until we're back home and we can put all of this behind us."

Hermione nodded and pulled her shirt over her head before helping Sirius clean up.

When everyone had finished packing and were ready, they set off in the direction they'd come from.

_CRACK!_

"I heard it that time," Hermione whispered, looking all around for the source.

"Is it the Wiccans again?" Tonks asked worriedly.

Remus shook his head. "They only attacked us to keep us away from Sirius for Bellatrix. They wouldn't just attack."

"So it's..."

Remus nodded. "It must be."

Their suspicions were confirmed when Hermione noticed a slight movement above her and chose to strike, sending a _stupefy!_ to the treetops. Down tumbled a Death Eater, and with him came several others, less unconscious than the first one.

Suddenly, spells were flying, and their secret weapon was released again. The men went deaf and Ren sang, Hermione fought with vigour and Ginny tried with all her might, the men tried to protect the others, but the Death Eaters fought with a fuel the Order did not have-revenge. There were only three reasons they could be here-revenge for being beaten the first time, revenge for Hermione hurting Bellatrix, or to capture Hermione, in continuance of their plans.

And to add to that, the Order was outnumbered by at least fifty, they were tired from their adventures in the Amazon and their swim and their previous fights, and they were losing.

Tonks and Ginny were the first to fall, but it was nothing incredibly deadly. It was when Harry had been struck with a spell causing him to begin bleeding from his forehead that they realised they were in trouble.

But Sirius fought with anger as well. He had just gotten Hermione back, and he wasn't going to be separated from her ever again if he had anything to say about it. And as for Harry-he'd vowed long ago to never let anything happen to the boy. He wasn't about to break that now.

So, with one powerful spell, he was able to blast all of the Death Eaters several feet away in each direction, giving him just enough time to pick up Harry and Ginny, to let Remus gather Tonks, and for them all to get a headstart towards the barriers. Once they passed through the barriers, they could apparate away and they would finally be safe. It felt like forever ago since Sirius had seen his home, and he couldn't wait to get back.

But there was some business he had to take care of before he could get there, and that's what was continuing to push him on.

It wasn't long before the Death Eaters managed to catch up with them. Sirius and Remus ran ahead with the injured, while the rest covered them, throwing back as many spells as they could, hoping they met their target with such poor aim at the time. Hermione was greatly reminded of fighting people off on the hunt for Horcruxes with Harry, and it was causing her to become a bit shaky, but she still managed to run on.

Ren was of no use while they were running. She had managed to catch several Death Eaters in their stationary battle, but now she was merely running for her life. Ron came to the rescue when she was hit with a spell that caused her to drop asleep. He threw her over his shoulder and ran around to the front of the group with Sirius and Remus.

They all felt it immediately when they'd passed through the barriers. With barely a look at each other, they apparated to Number 12 Grimmauld Place, leaving the Death Eaters behind.


	39. Chapter 39

Harry had lost a lot of blood. He didn't wake up for what seemed like days-really, it was only just a couple of hours-and he was so disoriented when he did that it took a few more to guage wether or not he was okay.

Thankfully, he was.

And he was let out of the hospital just in time for he and Ginny's wedding.

The wedding was a small affair, not just because of the war, but because they knew that because it was Harry Potter's wedding, it would have to be kept either a secret, or small enough that they could hide themselves. Wedding crashers would be in great amounts if word were to leak out.

Hermione was very happy with the her Matron of Honour gown, specifically picked out by Ginny. When she'd asked Sirius how he liked it, he told her he'd like it much better if it was crumpled at the end of his bed. Hermione rolled her eyes and continued getting ready for the wedding.

Hermione was the Matron of Honour, Ron the best man. As they stood at the front of the small line of bridesmaids and groomsmen, smiles plastered on their faces and ready for the crowd, Ron leaned over to whisper something to Hermione.

"Hermione?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, Ron?" she said through her teeth. She'd been practicing this smile for weeks, and wasn't about to lose it now.

"I'm thinking about asking out Ren."

Hermione's smile nearly faltered. _That was close._

"Ron, you can't," Hermione said softly. "She's not human."

"But Mione," he said. "Lately, when Snape's been trying to block our ears for Ren to sing, we can hear her."

Hermione's eyes widened. _So much for that smile..._ "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's really quiet, but we can hear her voice," Ron said. "And have you noticed how the song hasn't been working as well?"

Hermione thought back to their most recent fight, how Ren had taken down far less people than before. "What do you think it means?"

"Snape says he thinks it means that since she's been around humans so long and away from Sirens, she's growing a soul," Ron said, glancing sideways at Hermione. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of how beautiful she was today. How he wished that spell hadn't been deflected. How he wished he could have been the one Hermione had married. But he shook his head. He'd long ago accepted that he hadn't a single chance with her-she loved Sirius too much, and Sirius loved her so much in return, that there was no way he'd ever get with her again. "A conscience."

Hermione quirked an eyebrow. "Is that possible?"

Ron nodded as the organ started and the doors were about to open. "Snape said it's happened before," he replied as she managed to smile again, though not as beautiful and genuine as before. "Are you okay with this?"

"Ron, we'll talk later," Hermione whispered, and then the doors flew open, and they walked up the aisle together, arm in arm.

...

Ron brought it up again midway through the wedding reception. It was being held at Grimmauld Place, just as Hermione's had, and it was getting a bit late, but the party was no where near over. Even if Harry and Ginny had escaped upstairs to their bedroom a few minutes before.

"Hermione?"

Hermione looked away from Seamus, who was she was smiling as he introduced his new wife, a muggle-born girl who hadn't attended Hogwarts. She was very small for her age, and they were adorable together.

"I'll see you later, Hermione," Seamus said, smiling at her before he left.

Hermione nodded and looked to Ron, who had been the cause of the interruption in her and Seamus' discussion. "Yes, Ronald?"

"Have you thought about what I said?" He asked nervously.

Hermione sighed. "I want to know for sure what you're saying is true. I want to know that she's turning into a human."

Ron nodded and went to go and get Snape, wanting to prove to her that what he was saying wasn't just a lie. He came back a few minutes later with the snarky man, who had a developing soft spot for Hermione, and he shuffled as he gestured towards Hermione. "Tell her, Professor."

Snape quirked an eyebrow at him.

Ron blushed. "Please."

Snape nodded and turned to Hermione. "You had a question, Miss Granger?"

Hermione nodded and drained the remainder of her wine before standing. "Yes. I want to know if there's any truth to the question of wether or not Ren is becoming human."

Snape nodded once. "It has happened twice before. When a Siren is removed from its school to live among humans, they lose what makes them immortal. From what I can see, Ren is losing what makes her a Siren. Therefore, she's becoming a human."

"And the part about her soul?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrows.

Snape nodded again. "It all depends on your point of view when it comes to spirituality. With humanity comes a soul. Therefore, Ren is, as Mr. Weasley put it, growing a soul. She has a conscience, I can tell already, and those who are immortal don't have that."

Hermione nodded. "Thank you, Professor."

"Glad to be of service, Miss Granger," Snape said with a slight bow and a cold stare at Ron before leaving the two of them to continue their conversation.

"There you have it," Ron said, gesturing towards Snape's retreating form.

Hermione sighed and sat back down. "I guess you're right. Well, I suppose it's no longer up to me. You have my permission to ask her out."

Ron grinned. "Thanks, Mione," he said, leaning in to kiss her cheek. Then he went off in search of Ren, who was sitting on a table on the other side of the room, tying conffetti into her hair. It looked very pretty.

Hermione jumped as someone pressed their nose against her neck, and she smiled when familiar arms snaked around her waist, around the back of the chair. "Hello, love," Sirius whispered against her neck, sending shivers down her spine. "That matron of honour dress looks awfully itchy. Would you like me to help with that?"

Hermione giggled. "You would like that, wouldn't you?"

He growled in the back of her throat, and Hermione shivered again. "I would _love_ to help a lady in distress."

Hermione giggled once again. "Hm...I think you're right. It is a little itchy. Why don't we go remedy that?"

Sirius shot to his feet so fast that Hermione barely noticed he moved until he was standing right in front of her, hand held out. Hermione smiled as she took his hand, and he pulled her from her seat, rushing her around the room as they said their goodbyes, and they stopped quickly to make sure it was okay that Ren stay the night at Grimmauld Place in Hermione's old room. Then, Sirius apparated them home, directly into the bedroom.

It wasn't long before Hermione's pretty Matron of Honour dress was crumpled at the foot of Sirius' bed.

...

Kind of short, but you know. It was just one of those chapters. I've gotta do some plot editing, so the next chapter might take a couple of days, but not too long, considering I love writing this fanfiction!

And to those of you who read Beautiful Disaster, I think you might be getting another chapter tonight. If I don't fall asleep, first. ^^

Bye!


	40. Chapter 40

Hi, guys! Forty chapters, 279 reviews...Guys, this is just amazing. Wow. Thank you.

...

It had been a couple of weeks since the wedding, and Harry and Ginny had long since returned from their honeymoon, also in America. A lot had happened in those weeks, starting with Ren's date with Ron. Of course, it hadn't started out very well.

"Hermione?"

Hermione woke up the day after the wedding, wrapped in Sirius' arms. She squirmed a bit so she was able to spot the alarm clock, and saw that it read 12:00. Shocked she had managed to sleep this late, Hermione kissed Sirius awake and struggled from his arms.

"Coming, Ren!" Hermione called as she removed herself from Sirius. She got to her feet shakily, wobbling a bit before she covered herself with her dressing gown and ran out of the bedroom, leaving Sirius behind to put on a pair of pants.

Ren was standing in the living room with her small bag of clothes. Her eyebrows were narrowed and her lower lip protruding. It was the look she got when she was trying to figure out a particularily difficult homework problem. Hermione smiled lightly. "What is it, sweetie?"

Ren looked up from her bag and towards Hermione. "Last night, Ronny asked me on a date."

Hermione continued to smile as she walked forward and took Ren's bag for her. "Yes, I know. He told me he was going to ask you. And what did you say?"

"I say yes," she said, somewhat hesitantly.

Hermione wrinkled her brow as she began unpacking Ren's bag in her small closet/bedroom. She poked her head through the door and found Ren cuddling with Theseus on the couch. "Is there a problem?"

"Hermione?" Ren looked up at her with her wide blue eyes. "What's a date?"

Hermione threw her head back and laughed. "Ren! You said you'd go on a date before knowing what a date was?"

She nodded sheepishly, and Hermione laughed again. She then rolled her eyes and came forward to sit beside Ren on the couch. "Ren, Ron asked you on a date because he fancies you."

"Fancy me?"

Hermione nodded. "You know how I fancy Sirius? I love him?"

Ren nodded. "That why you married him."

Hermione nodded. "Right. Well, when someone fancy's another someone, sometimes they ask that person out on a date. A date is where you spend a few hours with them and have fun while learning a bit about each other."

"Why?"

"Well, so you know if you might want to marry them someday," Hermione explained.

"You and Sirius go on dates?" Ren asked.

Hermione hesitated. "Well, no. But we were different. See, we had to get married, but we love each other now. You and Ron have the chance to see if you want to marry each other in the future through dating."

Ren rose her eyes to Hermione's again and smiled hugely. "Thank you, Hermione. Ron say he will pick me up today at four."

Hermione returned her smile. "Good. After I take a shower and make some...lunch, I'll help you find something nice to wear."

Ren nodded and returned to cuddling with Theseus. Hermione stood and made her way to the kitchen to see if there was anything she could make Sirius and Ren while she was in the shower, but found that someone had already beaten her to it. Sirius was bent over the stove, happily whistling as he cooked grilled-cheese sandwiches for the three of them. It had taken a little while, but Ren was finally accustomed to warm food, and things other than raw fish. Hermione was glad for it, because she didn't know how much longer her stomache could take watching Ren eat something raw. It couldn't have been healthy at all.

"Did you catch all that?" Hermione asked, wrapping her arms around Sirius' lean waist. He grinned and nodded, flipping one of the sandwiches to reveal the perfectly golden-brown underside.

"I sure did," Sirius replied, patting her hand on his waist. He set down his spatula and turned around, hugging Hermione, burying his nose in her hair. "Ron and Ren. Never would have guessed."

Hermione giggled. "Me either. But I guess if he really wants to..."

Sirius nodded, hugging Hermione tighter before he turned to make sure nothing burned.

After lunch, Hermione got in the shower and dressed quickly before helping Ren find something to wear for her date. Ron took her to the Dragon Scale Cafe, reminding Hermione that she and Ginny hadn't been there in quite some time, and should go to do some catching up.

Which is what happened about two weeks after Ron and Ren's successful date.

"Hermione, do you realise that you're almost out of time?"

Hermione sucked thoughtfully on the straw connecting her mouth to her milkshake. "Out of time for what, exactly?"

"You know," Ginny said, leaning back and looking out the window. "Until you're thrown in Azkaban."

Hermione choked slightly on her milkshake. After making sure she wasn't in danger of dying, Hermione looked down at the table. "Sirius and I are working on it, Ginny. Don't worry."

Ginny sighed and nodded. "I'm sure you are. I just get worried...you know. Can't have my best friend in Azkaban for something as silly as this."

Hermione tried to smile and nodded, then changing the subject to Ginny's brother and Hermione's practically sister, and Ginny was immediately fussing over the couple, evading an awkward conversation for Hermione.

But about one week later, Hermione found there had been absolutely no reason to worry. Sirius obviously knew next to nothing about pregnancy, despite her having been pregnant previously, as he was ready to apparate Hermione to St. Mungo's when he woke up one morning to her bent over the toilet, vomiting everything she had into the bowl. He held back her hair and fussed over her, talking nonstop and doing nothing of any help. Finally, Hermione found herself finished, and she took a deep breath. She got to her feet and turned shakily towards Sirius, stumbling into his embrace. She used her wand to perform a spell to freshen her breath and clean her teeth and tongue, then she leaned her head back and looked Sirius directly in the eye.

"Sirius," she said, "I've got a task for you. I need you to walk just down the street to the drug store, and buy me a small box that's going to say _Magic Results._ Okay?"

Sirius, as clueless as ever, nodded vigorously and helped Hermione to the couch before he shot out of the flat. He had almost made it to the door when he realised something. He stopped and turned, kissing Hermione deeply. When she was too breathless to do anything but hold him tightly, Sirius pulled back and winked. "Happy birthday."

And he rushed quickly out the door.

The little blue plus sign was one of the happiest things Hermione had seen in a long time. She had kept Sirius outside waiting in the living room, considering ever since she had thrown up he had refused to even think about leaving her side. She stood and smiled hugely before walking outside.

"Sirius?"

He stopped his nervous pacing and threw himself at Hermione, wrapping his arms around her. "What's the matter? Are you sick?"

Hermione shook her head, almost crying with happiness. "Sirius," Hermione whispered, looking up at him. Sirius was concerned by her tears, wiping some away with his finger tips. "Sirius, I'm pregnant."

For a split second, Hermione thought his silence meant he was angry. But then, all his happiness shone through, and he lifted her into his arms, laughing and jumping all around the room, Hermione giggling like a school-girl, hugging him tightly.

All was well.

For now.

...

Yay! Happiness. And, as the story says, for now. Don't worry, it's nothing too bad...

Well, it's Hermione's birthday in here! I wouldn't be so heartless as to make something bad happen on her birthday! Geez, people!

Anyways, please leave a review! I love them with all my heart. ^^


	41. Chapter 41

Hello! I posted a one-shot about Ron and Ren's date, called Angel: Ron and Ren, for anyone who's interested. It's not completely necessary to read it, but it might be a bit helpful if you want to know Ron's feelings about Hermione being with Sirius.

Anyways, enjoy the ensuing fluff!

...

Hermione and Sirius showed up to Number 12 Grimmauld Place for Hermione's eighteenth birthday party at around five-thirty. Mrs. Weasley knew immediately from just the expressions on their faces.

"Happy birthday, Hermione," she said, giving Hermione a big hug. Then she whispered, "Will you tell them after cake?"

Hermione laughed. "Of course you know already. Yes, I'll tell them."

Mrs. Weasley smiled as she pulled back, patted Hermione on the shoulders, gave Sirius a disapproving look, causing him to laugh, and walked away. Mrs. Weasley still wasn't thrilled with Sirius and Hermione being married, and was especially unhappy with what went on in their bedroom. Hermione had tried to explain to her that she was old enough to make her own decisions, to which Mrs. Weasley had said that he was old enough to be her father. She had then argued that he was her only option, to which Mrs. Weasley had only smiled and said, "Hermione, it doesn't matter what you say, I am never going to like that man."

Hermione had only sighed.

Sirius nudged her in the arm and smiled at her. Hermione smiled back, taking his hand, and they entered the kitchen.

Hermione was attacked with "Happy birthday!"'s from everyone in the room. Harry gave her a hug, as did a few others. Most notably Ginny, who nearly broke Hermione's neck.

Ren had spent the night with Ginny again. Hermione was worried she was losing her best girlfriend, but only teasingly. They sat down to dinner, and Hermione was surprised at her unusually large appetite, before she remembered how much she had eaten during her previous pregnancy. Mrs. Weasley brought out a two layer waldorf astoria cake with buttercream frosting. The icing was charmed to change from "Happy Birthday, Hermione!" to "Happy Eighteenth!" to "Congratulations!"

Hermione laughed at the last one. "Mrs. Weasley, I thought I was telling them _after_ cake."

Mrs. Weasley laughed as well. "We'll keep them guessing."

Hermione laughed again as people began asking what the "congratulations" meant, but she ignored them, enjoying her cake in the silence that was only there when she ignored everyone.

Finally, she finished, and she and Sirius stood up. "Well, everyone," she said, smiling as Sirius wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close to his side. "We've got some very important news."

"I've still got it!" Sirius announced.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm pregnant!"

There were cheers and congratulations' and hugs and Hermione was too happy to even notice any of it. Sirius dipped her backwards and kissed her deeply, then stood her up when she was almost too breathless to think.

Then came presents. A necklace from Harry, some books from Remus, a potions book from Snape, clothes from both Ginny and Tonks, a wallet from Mrs. Weasley, a bracelet from Ron, a book about Quidditch from Oliver Wood, earrings that Luna made from both Luna and Neville, and Sirius gave her a card. It was just a simple card. It had the picture of a birthday cake on the cover, and when she opened it, everyone said, "Goodbye, Hermione!"

Hermione looked up as Sirius took her hand, and as she was about to ask why they were saying goodbye, she suddenly felt herself vanishing.

When she reappeared, she was in a very unfamiliar place. She was sitting, and moved to stand up.

"Whoa, I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Hermione felt familiar hands on her shoulders, lowering her back onto the ground. She smiled and placed her hands over Sirius'.

"Sirius," she said, "where are we?"

"Well, that's the fun of it," Sirius said, rubbing his thumbs over her shoulders. "You get to figure that out for yourself."

Hermione looked around. "We're on a boat."

"Very observant," Sirius said, chuckling.

"And...we're in the water...and...it's dark."

"I can see that."

"So, I have absolutely no idea where we are," Hermione said finally.

Sirius laughed and moved her hair aside, brushing his lips over her neck, the side that hadn't been ravaged by that Death Eater so long ago, and Hermione shivered. "We're in Italy."

Hermione looked around. "It doesn't look like Italy."

Sirius laughed. "That's all you can say? I organised this whole thing and all you can say is, 'It doesn't look like Italy'?"

"Oh, thank you ever so much, Sirius," Hermione said, batting her eyelashes. "I'm am so very grateful that you planned this whole trip, and all for me!"

Sirius laughed again and rolled his eyes, kissing her cheek and pulling her tight against his chest. "I love you, Hermione."

Hermione wrapped her arms around his hands. "I love you, too."

Hermione jumped at the sound of a violin and she turned to kiss Sirius on the mouth. "Oh, Sirius!" She said. "It's just like in the stories."

He laughed and kissed her forehead. Their boat slowly sailed through the water like Hermione said-just like in the stories. They sat holding each other, talking about small little nothings, and after about an hour of this, they got off, and Sirius and Hermione walked through a pretty little park.

"Sirius, this is great," Hermione said. "It's so pretty. Thank you."

He grinned. "I was afraid you'd think it was too cheesy."

Hermione shrugged. "It is pretty cheesy, but I don't care."

Sirius squeezed her closer. "Good. And wait until you see our hotel, it's great!"

Hermione smiled as she listened to Sirius going on about everything. Apparently, right after they'd left, Ginny had gone to their flat, packed their bags, and apparated to their hotel to check them in and drop off their things. Knowing Ginny, Hermione knew exactly what kind of clothing she'd be finding hidden in her bags, and cringed. At least it was only one night.

"Here it is," said Sirius, and they went straight to their room, which Ginny left open, but put up enough wards so that it wouldn't be broken into.

Just the lobby was beautiful, with a big fountain right in the middle. They went up to their room, and Hermione's jaw dropped.

"Sirius, how much is this costing you?"

Sirius shrugged as they looked around. "Not sure. I don't really pay attention to prices. I don't need to, what with all of the money I've got."

Hermione rolled her eyes, but drew in a breath. A hot tub. A king sized bed with curtains and a red comforter. A kitchen, two bathrooms-_two_-a living room. It was huge, and beautiful, and Hermione had never seen anything like it.

Sirius wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist and brought his lips to her neck again. "What do you say to a little dip in the jacuzzi?"

Hermione grinned and nodded. "I'll go get my swimsuit."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Who needs swimsuits?"

Hermione laughed. "I do."

Sirius laughed, too, and let go of her, watching her walk to her bag, grabbing her bag, and wander into one of the two bathrooms. While she was in there, he took the other, also changing into his own trunks, then slipped into the tub to wait for her.

...

By now, most of the Order members had either gone home or gone to bed, but Harry, Ginny and Ron stayed seated around the kitchen table, Ginny gathering Hermione's presents together so she could bring them to her when she got home.

"Ron," she said once Ren had gone to sleep, "You never told us how you and Ren's date went."

Ron went red and shrugged. "It went nicely, thank you."

She grinned at him. "Oh? Tell me more."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Well, we went to the Dragon Scale for dinner and then we went to the playground down the road."

"What did you guys talk about?"

Ron shrugged. "Music. Her past. She wanted to know the difference between loving and fancying."

Ginny squeeled. "She's so cute, Ron!"

Ron grinned. "I know."

Ginny sighed. "You guys are going to get married someday, I just know it."

...

Most definitely not one of my favourites. It's really just a filler, I guess. Would it surprise you if I told you it took five hours to write this? Talk about writers block. I mean, I started early this morning, then went to the library and picked up my sister from school, and came home, sat down, and I've been typing for three hours. Where's all of the writing that I did? Shouldn't there be more if I wrote that long? Geez.

Anyways, what did you think? I love reviews! ^^


	42. Chapter 42

When Sirius woke up with Hermione breathing deeply in his arms, the warm sunlight stretching across the both of them, he tried to remember why he'd ever felt sad in his entire life. If this lovely being was in his future, how could he find reasons to be upset?

He swiped some hair off of her forehead and noticed her eyebrows were crinkled, as if she were upset or thinking very hard. Sirius kissed her forehead, and slowly made his way down to her mouth, trying to wake her up in a way that wouldn't disturb her more than necessary.

He felt her smile under his lips and he pulled away to watch her eyes blink open sleepily.

"Good morning, love," Sirius whispered, kissing her again.

Hermione smiled, but her face screwed up again. She threw aside her blankets and ran towards the bathroom. Sirius pulled himself from the bed and ran after her. He found her bent over the toilet, vomiting her insides into the bowl. Sirius held back her hair. When she was finished, he filled a small paper cup and took her to the sink to clean out her mouth. As she was doing that, he went and got her toothbrush from her bag. He returned to her smiling, sitting on the toilet.

Sirius chuckled. "What are you so smiley about?"

"My baby," Hermione replied absently, rubbing her still flat tummy.

Sirius grinned and sat down on the floor next to her. He took her hands and kissed her fingers. "Our baby."

She smiled back and closed her eyes as he kissed her bare stomache. She seemed to notice her lack of clothing, then. It hadn't taken long for her string bikini (packed with care by Ginevra Weasley) to be nearly ripped to shreds. She stood up. "I want to get dressed."

Sirius nodded. "I'll call room service."

She smiled and kissed the top of his head. He watched her leave and then got off of the floor. He searched for a pair of pants before picking up the phone, barely sure how to work it. Hermione laughed and pressed the correct button before handing him the menu. She then retreated into the bathroom to dress while he ordered the entire menu.

Hermione leaned back once all of the food was gone. She was dressed in a pretty yellow sundress and her hair was pulled back in a clip. She hadn't forgotten what it felt like to want to eat everything in sight. She sighed.

Sirius chuckled. "Full?"

She nodded, smiling. "What's on the agenda for today?"

Sirius shrugged. "What do you want to do, sweetheart?"

Hermione moved to sit on his lap. "Be with you."

Sirius kissed her cheek. "Whatever you want, babe."

...

Hermione didn't know how much longer she could have taken it. She'd heard of people who were in labor for days. It had been three hours for her. The longest three hours of her entire life.

But Sirius, just like all those months ago when she had gotten hurt that first time in the Amazon, had never left her side, holding her hand until his joints cracked with force and he had to clench his teeth to keep from screaming with her, or at least at the healers to take away her pain.

But it happened. She was dead tired and the until now dormant chest pains had returned. The healers were worried about her past health problems, but she just brushed them aside. She had to see her baby.

"Alright," said the blonde healer from so long ago. She had a shiny diamond engagement ring sparkling on her finger now. "Ten toes, ten fingers, two eyes, a nose and a mouth. A perfectly healthy little boy."

Hermione held out her arms, which ached, and took her baby into them. Curly black hair already rested on top of his head, messy just like her own, but the pretty colour of his fathers. His eyes were brown, like hers.

"He sure is something," Sirius said beside her.

Hermione smiled. It was meant to be towards Sirius, but she couldn't look away from the little bundle of...life...just resting there in her arms.

"Sirius?" Hermione said.

"Yeah, love?"

"Can we name him Harry?"

Sirius kissed her cheek. "I would love nothing more."

Hermione grinned at him and then leaned down to kiss her baby before the healers took him away. Hermione needed to be checked out, what with all of her previous health issues. After only five seconds of having her baby taken away, Sirius looked worried. "Hermione? Hermione, sweetheart?"

The last thing Hermione felt were his fingers on her face and his voice calling for a healer.

...

Hermione was sick. The toll pregnancy and birth had taken on her body wasn't good, but she could survive. At least, she had this far.

And with baby Harry, she couldn't imagine leaving now. She had to stay alive and well for her baby. And for Sirius. She'd taken to taking her potions once in the morning and once at night. But she would be fine, she assured everyone of this.

Harry was completely off the walls at having a baby named after him, and even more so when he was announced the godfather. There was news all over the place aside from that, though-Ginny was pregnant, Ron and Ren were engaged for when Ren reached seventeen in two years, and Ren was fully human. It had been discovered when Ren called Hermione into the bathroom while she was in the bathtub, crying because she had watched her beautiful tail dissolve right off her body and into the water.

Hermione was training to become a healer on the side of taking care of Harry, and Sirius was, well, Sirius. Always around when Hermione needed him, and always there to make sure those he loved the most were completely well.

Hermione couldn't imagine her life going any other way.

...

Here's a nice short one for you! And the reason it's so short-I need your opinion. Is this the end? Will we leave it at a nice happy ending? Or should I continue with more drama and action and romance and adventure? Because I could go either way. But with school starting, the posts would just be a lot farther in between. It's totally up to my readers. Drop me a review and tell me what you think, please! ^^

Ps, THREE HUNDRED AND FOUR REVIEWS! I'm ecstatic, guys! You have no idea! I love you all so much for this! Wow...304...I never thought I'd ever get more than 50. *Shakes head* I am truly grateful God has given me the talent to reach this number of reviews.

Okay, now, bye!

Don't forget to tell me whether or not you want me to continue!

If not, then goodbye, I'll miss you!


	43. Chapter 43

It's been decided, then, that this is the end! But to those of you who wanted me to finish, I've got something for you! (and even for those who liked where I left this.)

I am in the process of organising a story (Hermione/Sirius) that will be released in a few days, maybe a week. I have chosen about 50 songs from Aerosmith, Kiss, Dave Matthews Band, Guns n Roses, and Phil Collins, and I am in the process of arranging them in a story! ^^ I think it should be pretty good. It starts out when he is disowned, fast-forwards to Azkaban, fast-forwards to him in the Order, and then again to after the war, where it will pick up with the romance. He and Hermione will be partnered for a mission and during this, Hermione is trying to make him grow-up, when all he really wants is to be a kid, because he never got the chance. It's going to be very fluffy, kind of sad sometimes, but also very happy and, if you listen to Aerosmith and Kiss, upbeat and happy. It will be kind of like Chip Away the Stone, but a bit more happy.

I think you'll enjoy it!

See you all soon,

Your humble Wordsmith,

Dr. Rae


	44. Chapter 44

Hello, readers! I have posted the first two chapters of my next Hermione/Sirius story. It's called "May Be You," if any of you are interested. I'll probably be posting the third chapter today, which is where Hermione first comes in. Yay! And not long after romance will be picking up.

Thanks!

Dr. Rae


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